US Had Been Working on Release of American Pastor From China ‘For Some Time’: State Department

State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller speaks during a press briefing at the Department of State in Washington on July 24, 2023. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Department of State had been working “for some time” to secure the release of David Lin, an American pastor who had been jailed for nearly two decades in China, said spokesperson Matthew Miller at a press briefing Sept. 16.

The department confirmed on Sept. 15 that Lin had been reunited with his family. He had been jailed in the Beijing Number Two Prison.

“We do welcome his release and we’re going to continue to work for the release of all wrongfully detained American citizens,” Miller told reporters. “It’s something we continue to work on.”

Miller said Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s efforts to reopen lines of communication with Beijing on his trip to China in June 2023 was part of the process.

“We were trying to restart the relationship not just so we could work together on the big issues that face the world ... but also a number of bilateral concerns, and one of the bilateral concerns that we’ve had is the wrongful detention of American citizens,” Miller said.

Blinken also named detained American businessmen Mark Swidan and Kai Li.

Blinken last met with the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Foreign Minister Wang Yi in July in Laos, where he also raised the issue of wrongfully detained Americans. Most recently, the White House’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan also brought up the issue in his diplomatic talks with high-ranking CCP officials in Beijing in August.

Miller didn’t say whether a prisoner swap took place or give additional details about the process.

On Sunday, Lin’s daughter Alice Lin rejoiced when she got confirmation of her father’s release.

“Praise God! We got the call late last night!!! Dad is free and over Alaska now,” she texted longtime supporter Bob Fu ahead of her reunion, according to screenshots Fu shared with The Associated Press. “God did it!!!”

Lin had gone to China in 2006 on a missionary trip and was helping a group of house Christians when he was arrested and jailed.

He was given a life sentence in 2009 after being convicted of contract fraud, a crime frequently used against house church leaders who raise funds, according to The Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit that tracks and petitions for the release of religious prisoners in China. The foundation estimates that there are more than 200 Americans under coercive measures in the country and more under exit bans.

Under the CCP’s rule, Christianity is strictly regulated and worship is allowed to take place only under regime-controlled churches and doctrines. Independent Christians in China are also known as house Christians, because they congregate in private homes rather than the CCP-organized churches.

In 2022, right before CCP leader Xi Jinping was set to meet with President Joe Biden, Lin’s sentence was reduced to end by 2030.