Chinese authorities released an American pastor who had been imprisoned for 20 years on Sunday, ahead of the country's Mid-Autumn Festival, according to multiple reports.
David Lin, 68, was detained in China in 2006, the same year he arrived in the country to set up a Christian teaching center in Beijing. CBS News ReportedLin was subsequently convicted of fraud and reportedly sentenced to life in prison in 2009.
Lin's release came nearly three weeks after U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan visited Beijing in late August and met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the media reported.
“We welcome the release of David Lin from a prison in the People's Republic of China,” the State Department said. said “Lynn will be able to see her family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the statement added, according to an emailed statement from The Washington Post.
China has released American pastor David Lin, who had been imprisoned since 2006, according to the State Department. https://t.co/u9YmY3wJ5e
— NBC News World (@NBCNewsWorld) September 16, 2024
Chinese authorities are known to be accusing “house church leaders who raise funds for their activities” of contract fraud. According to Duy Hua Foundation — A California-based nonprofit humanitarian organization that works on behalf of people detained in China.
The group said Lin's life sentence had been commuted four times and that when it was last commuted he was due to be released in December 2029. (Related article: US intelligence reveals that China committed numerous human rights violations last year)
The State Department had been negotiating with the Chinese government over the detention of Lin and two other Americans, including Secretary of State Kai Li. Antony Blinken told reporters: July 2023.
Duy Hua wrote that he appealed to the Chinese government for amnesty on Lin's behalf 30 times and received multiple written responses from Beijing.
Swidan, a Texas businessman, has been in China since 2016 on suspicion of drug trafficking and faces the death penalty, John Kam, executive director of the Duy Hua Foundation, told CBS News. Kai Li reportedly suffered a stroke, Kam said. Li, a 62-year-old export businessman, has been accused of espionage by the Chinese government, the news outlet reported. Website was established in his name.
After 20 years in prison #ChinaAmerican pastor David Lin has been released, but he is just one of the victims of China's politicized “justice” system. “We are overjoyed beyond words,” his daughter said. Image credit: @Hostage Aid Free Kairi https://t.co/T24hrFy4D6 pic.twitter.com/Pqb1VOiuPF
— Safeguard Defenders (犤卫士) (@SafeguardDefend) September 16, 2024
Duy Hua also named Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt as among the more than 200 Americans being detained in China.
Wells was “convicted of drug charges with little evidence of guilt, no opportunity for a defense, and little due process before being convicted and incarcerated.” Website The site was set up in his name. He is said to be seriously ill in a prison in Chongqing, southwest China. The site said he was originally from Louisiana and that his father was a U.S. Army veteran.
Hunt was a Chicago temporary worker and prize-winner who was approached by someone claiming to be a British lawyer and told he had won a trip to Australia and was forced to transport a bag containing 4.5 pounds of methamphetamine, The New York Times reported. ReportedHer original death sentence was reportedly commuted to life imprisonment.
