US lawmakers urged the Biden administration in a hearing on Wednesday to intensify efforts to secure the release of Americans allegedly unjustly detained in China.
Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), alongside representatives Zach Nunn (R-IA) and Michelle Steel (R-CA), emphasized the need to prioritize the release of Americans from Chinese prisons at the hearing, In his opening statement, Representative Smith said:
The release of American citizens should be the first thing President Biden mentions to Communist Party leader Xi Jinping whenever they talk. Their names should be said so often that Xi Jinping memorizes them. Their cases should be [the first] agenda item … at every meeting the Secretary of State takes with Chinese officials. And every US official traveling to China should be repeatedly saying the names of Kai Li, Mark Swidan, Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt. Every channel of the US government must be focused on the release of wrongfully detained Americans.
On Monday, the US State Department confirmed that David Lin, an American pastor the US alleges was wrongfully detained since 2009, has been released. Lin was originally arrested in 2009 after he attempted to create a Christian training center in Beijing. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to life on the charge of “contract fraud.” Lin’s release comes after National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrapped up a three-day trip to Beijing to meet with top Chinese officials.
The Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) chairs previously urged President Biden to raise Lin’s case with Xi Jinping in November 2023, alongside other unjust detainees in China, including Mark Swidan. Swidan was sentenced to death in 2019 after being convicted of drug trafficking. Swidan remains in custody in China. His family members advocated for his release at the Wednesday hearing.
In an interview with News Nation, Swidan’s attorney said Swidan was “torture[d]” and noted that he was not well. Representative Smith announced plans to introduce bipartisan legislation aimed at facilitating and streamlining the process of returning imprisoned individuals to the US during his closing comments at the hearing. He stated that the proposed legislation will seek to direct the State Department to develop a strategy to secure the release of wrongfully detained Americans.
