China has released a US pastor after nearly two decades in prison, presenting an olive branch to the US that had repeatedly called for his release.
US citizen David Lin (林大衛) was freed from a prison in China, a US Department of States spokesman said.
The 68-year-old born-again Christian had been held in China since 2006 on allegations of fraud, although critics said his sermons and involvement in building a home church were frowned upon by Beijing, which tries to control religious activity.
Photo: grab from Bring Our Families Home Campaign FB/ Alice Lin
“He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the State Department said in a statement to Bloomberg News yesterday.
His unexpected release from jail suggests Beijing is making a show of goodwill at a critical time for US-China relations, especially with the US presidential election in November. While there is progress on issues such as tackling fentanyl trafficking and resuming high-level military talks, tensions persist over Taiwan and technology-sharing.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
Lin, together with Mark Swidan, a Texas businessman on death row for alleged drug trafficking, and Li Kai (李凱), a naturalized US citizen who imported solar energy technology, have been on the state department’s priority list of US nationals who have been arbitrarily detained.?
Lin, who was set to be released in December 2029, was freed just days before a US Congress hearing scheduled tomorrow over securing the freedom of unjustly detained Americans in China.
The Dui Hua Foundation, which campaigns for political prisoners in China, said it welcomed Lin’s release from the Beijing Number Two Prison.
“It represents one of the most important releases of a religious prisoner since [Chinese President] Xi Jinping [習近平]came to power in 2012,” John Kamm, chairman of the Dui Hua Foundation, told Bloomberg News. “It demonstrates a willingness to improve relations with the United States by releasing its citizens from prison.”
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un sent Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) greetings with what appeared to be restrained rhetoric that comes as Pyongyang moves closer to Russia and depends less on its long-time Asian ally. Kim wished “the Chinese people greater success in building a modern socialist country,” in a reply message to Xi for his congratulations on North Korea’s birthday, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported yesterday. The 190-word dispatch had little of the florid language that had been a staple of their correspondence, which has declined significantly this year, an analysis by Seoul-based specialist service NK Pro showed. It said
On an island of windswept tundra in the Bering Sea, hundreds of miles from mainland Alaska, a resident sitting outside their home saw — well, did they see it? They were pretty sure they saw it — a rat. The purported sighting would not have gotten attention in many places around the world, but it caused a stir on Saint Paul Island, which is part of the Pribilof Islands, a birding haven sometimes called the “Galapagos of the north” for its diversity of life. That is because rats that stow away on vessels can quickly populate and overrun remote islands, devastating bird
‘CLOSER TO THE END’: The Ukrainian leader said in an interview that only from a ‘strong position’ can Ukraine push Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘to stop the war’ Decisive actions by the US now could hasten the end of the Russian war against Ukraine next year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday after telling ABC News that his nation was “closer to the end of the war.” “Now, at the end of the year, we have a real opportunity to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” Zelenskiy said in a post on Telegram after meeting with a bipartisan delegation from the US Congress. “Decisive action now could hasten the just end of Russian aggression against Ukraine next year,” he wrote. Zelenskiy is in the US for the UN
A 64-year-old US woman took her own life inside a controversial suicide capsule at a Swiss woodland retreat, with Swiss police on Tuesday saying several people had been arrested. The space-age looking Sarco capsule, which fills with nitrogen and causes death by hypoxia, was used on Monday outside a village near the German border. The portable human-sized pod, self-operated by a button inside, has raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland. Active euthanasia is banned in the country, but assisted dying has been legal for decades. On the same day it was used, Swiss Department of Home