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Too many Americans ‘unjustly’ jailed in China, lawmakers say

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Too many Americans ‘unjustly’ jailed in China, lawmakers say
September 18, 2024
Article Body Text U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday urged the Biden administration to do more to bring home Americans unjustly imprisoned in China, as family members of the prisoners begged for help to secure their release. The appeals were made at a hearing of the <a href="https://www.cecc.gov/events/hearings/bringing-home-americans-detained-china">Congressional-Executive Commission on China</a>, which came just three days after China’s government released one American prisoner who had been imprisoned for almost two decades – the 68-year-old pastor <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/us-pastor-david-lin-released-09162024130436.html">David Lin</a>. “We're overjoyed for the Lin family,” said the chair of the commission, Rep. Chris Smith, who is a Republican from New Jersey, before noting estimates there are some <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/china-usa-prisoners-03062023155817.html">300 more</a> Americans in Chinese prisons. “This is absolutely unacceptable,” he said. “If the Chinese government wants to improve relations with the United States, they should release Americans who are wrongfully imprisoned without condition, and end the use of exit bans, a form of de facto hostage taking.” The commission heard from family members of those still imprisoned in China, each of whom said they felt “joy” upon hearing of the release of Lin on Sunday, even if it ultimately left them with a bittersweet feeling. “Each time we get this news, it's a really complex mix of emotions,” said Harrison Li, the son of <a href="https://www.freekaili.org/">Kai Li</a>, a Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen from Long Island, New York, who was arrested in Shanghai in 2016 for “espionage” on <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/25/asia/us-china-detention-li-kai-intl-hnk/index.html">a trip</a> to mark his mother’s death. Li pointed to the recent release of Britney Griner and Paul Whelan from Russian prisons – as well as lower-profile cases of U.S. citizens being brought home from prisons in Afghanistan, Iran, Niger and Venezuela “Of course, we're just so thrilled for these families,” he said. “We know, of course, what it's like to have a loved one unjustly missing for so long, and to know that the family is finally being made whole.” “But at the same time,” Li told the hearing, “it begs the question for us, ‘What about my dad? When will it be his turn?’” Lin’s release ‘not a coincidence’ Others told the hearing they believed American officials were not always doing enough to secure the release of their loved ones. Peter Humphrey, a British former journalist and private investigator imprisoned in China from 2013 to 2015 for obtaining the private data of elite business people in China, said it was clear Beijing cared about its reputation and could be persuaded to release unjustly held Americans. Lin was released by China on Sunday, he explained, “probably because of this imminent hearing on the calendar, which China was very well aware of,” calling the timing “not a coincidence at all.” <hr/> Related stories <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/us-pastor-david-lin-released-09162024130436.html">China releases US pastor David Lin after 18 years in jail</a> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/china-usa-prisoners-03062023155817.html">COMMENTARY: US-China tensions weigh on Americans detained in Chinese jails</a> <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-spying-08022023020349.html">Anti-espionage means YOU!</a> <hr/> If U.S. officials more forcefully called out Beijing for arresting Americans for political, business or other illegitimate reasons, he said, Beijing could be forced to release more people. “The U.S. government must end its policy of non-intervention in these judicial cases in China, and should intervene in them all,” Humphrey said, adding Washington alone could hold such sway over Beijing. “It has a duty of care to protect its citizens against abusive dictatorships, and their so-called judicial systems,” he said. “It can lead the world in this pushback like no other country can.” Fake contest The commission also heard from Tim Hunt, the brother of <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/09/17/a-chicago-woman-has-been-imprisoned-in-china-for-10-years-her-family-is-calling-on-the-us-to-bring-her-home/">Dawn Michelle Hunt,</a> who said his 53-year-old sister was tricked both into thinking she won a contest to visit China and then into agreeing to take luggage out of the country that was lined with methamphetamine. <figure><img alt="20240918-IMPRISONED-AMERICANS-CHINA-003.jpg" class="image-richtext image-inline" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/cecc-american-prisonors-unjustly-detained-09182024144515.html/20240918-imprisoned-americans-china-003.jpg/@@images/aa19f850-ba27-438e-8d1b-1d68db33e40d.jpeg" title="20240918-IMPRISONED-AMERICANS-CHINA-003.jpg"/> <figcaption>Dawn Hunt. (Courtesy of the Hunt Family)</figcaption> </figure> The scam started, he said, when she received an email that said she had won an “all-expenses paid trip to Hong Kong.” After traveling to Hong Kong and enjoying the trip, she was invited to mainland China. There, she was asked if she wanted to extend her trip to Australia. “She was told that she had also won some designer purses,” he said, noting the purses were lined with drugs. “It was at the airport, waiting to board her Australian flight, that she was called by airport security.” “This could happen to a lot of people,” said Hunt, a retired Chicago police officer. “She was duped, she was scammed. She trusted the wrong people, but she doesn't deserve this. My sister is trusting and believes people are good.” Through tears, Hunt, whose father last week <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/world/asia/china-us-woman-imprisoned.html">told The New York Times</a> that he believed his daughter had been mistreated and raped in the prison, said the case “isn’t political.” “I'm just asking, as a brother, just bring my sister home,” he said. A similar case was detailed by Nelson Wells Sr., the father of <a href="https://www.ksla.com/2023/05/23/bossier-city-family-details-sons-horrifying-experience-being-imprisoned-china-nearly-decade/">Nelson Wells Jr.</a>, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison after being caught trying to leave China in 2014 with baked goods containing drugs. <figure><img alt="20240918-IMPRISONED-AMERICANS-CHINA-002.jpg" class="image-richtext image-inline" src="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/cecc-american-prisonors-unjustly-detained-09182024144515.html/20240918-imprisoned-americans-china-002.jpg/@@images/29e98629-b277-4788-9bf0-08f9a04b658c.jpeg" title="20240918-IMPRISONED-AMERICANS-CHINA-002.jpg"/> <figcaption>Nelson Wells, Jr. (Friends & Family of Nelson Wells, Jr. via Facebook)</figcaption> </figure> Wells Sr. said his son agreed to take the baked goods out of China as a favor for a friend, who asked him to relay them to another friend. “For that one mistake – that one betrayal – none of our lives will ever be the same,” Wells Sr. said, adding he had not seen his son since. “We are asking, we are pleading, with this commission, with Congress, with the administration and with the Chinese government, to work together on behalf of our son to create a pathway for outright release, or prisoner transfer to a home prison,” he said. High priority Smith, the chair of the commission, said the cases of the prisoners should be made a priority for the Biden administration in its dealings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials in Beijing. “The release of American citizens should be the first thing President Biden says to … Xi Jinping whenever they talk,” Smith said. “Their names should be said so often that Xi Jinping memorizes them.” Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Massachusetts Democrat who co-chairs the commision, said he hoped for more good news in the near future. “We're joyful that David Lin has been released,” Merkley told the hearing, “but we want a celebration for each of your families.” Edited by Malcolm Foster.
Content Type Text
Language English
NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing Available No
Rights Jeff Chiu/AP
Network VOA
Embargo Date September 18, 2024 15:44 EDT
Byline By Alex Willemyns for RFA
Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English