BEIJING: China has freed David Lin, a US pastor who had been in jail since 2006, the State Department said on Sunday, marking the release of a man who Washington claims was wrongfully detained.
US politicians had for years urged Beijing to free Lin, who was jailed for life on charges of contract fraud.
“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China. He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” said a State Department spokesperson.
Lin’s daughter Alice earlier told Politico that her 68-year-old father would be arriving in San Antonio, Texas.
“No words can express the joy we have — we have a lot of time to make up for,” Politico quoted her as saying.
Last November, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged President Joe Biden to use a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to push for the release of Lin and two other detainees - Kai Li and Mark Swidan.
This combo of images shows, US President Joe Biden and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan . —...
An Indian security personnel stands guard as voters queue up to cast their ballots at a polling station in Pulwama on...
National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the...
A section of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rests in the water next to the Dali container ship in Baltimore on May 13,...
Faezeh Rafsanjani, daughter of former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaks to a journalist. —...
People walk near the posters of Sri Lanka's president Ranil Wickremesinghe before his final rally at a residential...