A U.S. pastor, who was imprisoned in China for 18 years on trumped-up charges after helping build a church in Beijing, was freed over the weekend.
David Lin, 68, was detained by Chinese authorities in 2006 and later sentenced to life in prison for contract fraud, a charge he denied. Additionally, he was barred from leaving the country because of its exit bans. The Chinese Communist Party often brings charges against Christian leaders of unapproved church buildings. House churches are fairly common but considered illegal in China amid ongoing persecution.
“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China,” the U.S. State Department said. “He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years.”
Lin’s daughter, Alice, celebrated the news in a brief interview with “Politico.” “No words can express the joy we have — we have a lot of time to make up for,” she said.
Mark Swidan has been detained in China for more than a decade.
Swidan family
Lin was one of three U.S. citizens whom the State Department deemed wrongfully detained in China. Businessmen Kai Li and Mark Swidan remain imprisoned. Li has been held behind bars on espionage charges since 2006, and Swidan has been detained since 2012 on drug-related charges.
Because of the “risk of wrongful detentions” and “arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” the State Department warned Americans to reconsider travel to China in an updated April advisory. Rep. Michael McCaul., R.-Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, praised Lin’s release while calling the same for Li and Swidan. U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing weeks ago, suggesting that Sullivan’s diplomatic visit was the impetus for Lin’s release.
Lin, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, frequently traveled to the country in the 1990s and started preaching there in 1999, according to ChinaAid, a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit committed to raising awareness about human-right abuses. His role in building a house of worship for an underground house church led to his imprisonment. Lin viewed his incarceration as an opportunity to share the Bible with other prisoners during this time. Since his sentencing in 2009, the Chinese government reduced his sentence three times. By the time he was freed, he was scheduled for release in 2029.
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice