American Pastor Detained In China For Nearly Two Decades Has Finally Returned Home

By Blake Wolf, OAN Staff
Monday, September 16, 2024 11:02 AM

David Lin, 68, has finally been released after nearly two decades in a Chinese prison. The US claimed that the pastor had been unjustly detained and was a “top priority” for the Biden administration.

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Lin was detained in China in 2006 for helping to build a Christian church without the approval of the Chinese government, and was later sentenced to life in prison for “contract fraud.”

Because Christianity is not officially recognized as a religion by the Chinese Communist Party and violations can lead to prison, many Chinese Christians join dangerous underground “house churches.”

“We welcome the release of David Lin from a prison in the People's Republic of China,” a State Department spokesman said Sunday. “He will return to the United States and be reunited with his family for the first time in nearly two decades.”

According to records kept by China Aid, a U.S.-based nonprofit Christian human rights group, Lin was a frequent visitor to China in the 1990s and began preaching secretly there in 1999.

Lin was detained in 2006 for his involvement in building an unlicensed house church, as President Xi's Communist Party cracked down on unlicensed religious gatherings.

According to China Aid, Lin has used his time incarcerated to share his Christian faith with other prisoners and even started group prayer meetings.

The State Department said it was stepping up efforts to secure the release of two other Americans wrongfully detained in China, businessmen Kai Li and Mark Swidan, who are being held on espionage and drug charges.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan have discussed the issue during their visit to China and have made it a “top priority.”

US politicians have joined in, calling for the remaining American prisoners to be released from Chinese detention facilities.

“I am very pleased that David Lin has been released,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said Sunday, “but Kai Li and fellow Texan Mark Swidan remain prisoners of the Chinese Communist Party and must be released immediately.”

The Campaign to Bring Families Home, a group that represents families of Americans detained overseas, welcomed the news of Lin's release, saying it “applauds the Biden Administration's efforts in making David's release possible.”

“Unfortunately, two Americans, Kai Li and Mark Swidan, remain unjustly detained in China,” the group said in a statement. “The campaign is pleased that the administration has acknowledged this fact, but we urge President Biden to build on the momentum of David's release and act swiftly and decisively to free Kai and Mark.”