Lawmakers are calling on President Joe Biden to use the rest of his term to work for his release Americans “falsely detained” in ChinaHe said US officials should do more to secure their freedom.
“There are more Americans have been wrongfully imprisoned in China more than in any other country. American citizens serve long prison sentences in China; Most were convicted of serious violations or trumped-up charges,” wrote Rep. Chris Smith, Republican of New Jersey, and Sen. Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon. letter to the president.
“Without adequate nutrition or medical care in Chinese prisons, many are severely ill-treated in detention and have developed serious physical and mental health problems. They deserve persistent advocacy for their release,” said Smith and Merkley, co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
Recently, MPs oversaw hearings where families of those arrested spoke about how their relatives suffered psychologically and physically without legal recourse.
China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China denies the charges and says it treats the detained Americans fairly and respects their legal rights.
Human rights groups have made similar claims about the status of Americans behind bars in China. The exact number of US citizens held in questionable conditions remains uncertain, and estimates vary. Families of imprisoned Americans and human rights activists say the US government should expand the list of people “wrongfully detained”.
The State Department recognizes that three Americans, including pastor David Lin, who was released last month, were wrongfully imprisoned in China. The other two Americans are Kay Lee and Mark Swidan.
Dui Hua, a rights group that advocates for detainees in China, estimates that there are more than 200 Americans “subject to coercive measures” in China.
Lee, from Long Island, New York, was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 on espionage charges. His family says the accusations are baseless. Svidan, a Texas businessman, was arrested in 2012 and convicted on drug-related charges in 2019. His lawyers say he was not in China at the time of the alleged crime.
In a letter to Biden, the lawmakers said Lee had spent more time behind bars than the three Americans recently released from a Russian prison. Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmashevamerged. “This must change,” they wrote.
“The release of the Americans should be the main priority in the upcoming meetings with the PRC [People’s Republic of China] General Secretary and President Xi Jinping,” the letter reads.
The Chinese government uses “exit bans” to unjustly imprison Americans “either to settle economic disputes or to force relatives to return to China to face alleged crimes,” the lawmakers wrote.
“If the Chinese government wants to improve relations with the United States, it must unconditionally release wrongfully detained Americans and end its use of ‘exit bans’, a form of unilateral de facto hostage-taking.”
The lawmakers’ letter also asks Biden to meet with the families of Americans detained in China, for White House and State Department officials to meet with them more often to share information about their cases and to be more transparent about potential diplomatic ways to win back their loved ones. the liberation of those who
Lawmakers called on US consular officials in China to visit detained Americans more often, “ensure longer and more frequent visits with families, and ensure proper access to legal representation and health care.”
At a hearing last month before the commission, Lee’s son Harrison Lee said his father suffered a stroke and lost a tooth while in prison and spent more than three years in a cell when China imposed severe restrictions during the Covid pandemic.
He told lawmakers that precious time will be lost after the new administration takes office in January and now is the time to push for his father’s release.
“The next few months will be critical before President Biden leaves office to negotiate fair contract it will finally bring my father home,” he said.