新闻来源：www.cnn.com
原文地址：An American pastor held in a Chinese jail for nearly two decades is finally home
新闻日期：2024-09-16
美国一名牧师近20年被关押在中国监狱后终于获释回国。
根据美国国务院的消息，68岁的美籍牧师林达伟（David Lin）于2022年底从中国监狱中获释。他曾在2006年帮助建造一座未经批准的教堂时被捕，并因合同诈骗罪被判无期徒刑。林达伟是美国政府认定的三位被错误羁押在中国的人之一，另外两人包括商人 Kai Li 和 Mark Swidan。
美方高级官员曾多次提及这三名美国公民的案件。美国总统拜登在去年11月与习近平主席会面时也提到了此事，并在今年春季通过电话进行了交流。
林达伟于2006年被捕后，在中国监狱中度过了多年时光。据美国非政府组织ChinaAid介绍，林达伟早在1999年就开始在中国传教。当时他帮助一个地下“家庭教会”建造了一座礼拜堂，并因此被拘留并禁止离境。
在狱中期间，林达伟与犯人共同分享信仰，并组建了一个祷告小组。近年来，中国政府对非法教会进行严厉打击，试图加强对宗教的控制，尤其是在习近平领导下。
美国国会议员迈克尔·麦考尔（Michael McCaul）表示欢迎林达伟获释，但他也呼吁立即释放另外两名被关押在中国的人士，包括商人 Kai Li 和 Mark Swidan。
原文摘要：
A pastor who the United States says was wrongfully detained in a Chinese prison for nearly two decades has been released, according to the State Department, ending a case that the Biden administration said was a top priority in efforts to stabilize relations with Beijing. David Lin, 68, was detained in China in 2006 after helping to construct an unapproved church building. He was later sentenced to life in prison for contract fraud, a charge he denied. Lin was one of three Americans deemed by the US State Department to have been wrongfully detained in China. Businessmen Kai Li and Mark Swidan are still held behind bars, on espionage and drug-related charges respectively. “We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said in a statement Sunday. “He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the statement added. The Biden administration has in recent years stepped up diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the three men. American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, have repeatedly raised the issue during their visits to China, citing it as a “top priority” to resolve their cases. President Joe Biden also addressed the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping when they met in person in San Fransisco in November and spoke by phone earlier this year, according to readouts from the White House. Lin visited China frequently in the 1990s and started to preach the Gospel there in 1999, according to ChinaAid, a US-based non-profit Christian human rights organization. He was detained in 2006 for helping an underground “house church” build a place of worship and barred from leaving the country, according to ChinaAid. Lin regarded his incarceration as an opportunity to share his faith with fellow prisoners and established a prayer meeting group, according to ChinaAid. In China, many Christians used to worship in house churches, or informal gatherings independent of state-approved churches. But the Chinese government has cracked down hard on the movement in recent decades as the ruling Communist Party tightens its grip on religion, especially under Xi. In 2009, Lin was jailed for life for contract fraud, a crime frequently used against house church leaders who raise funds to support their work, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a San Francisco-based human-rights group which advocates on behalf of detainees in China. While in prison, Lin received several sentence reductions and was scheduled to be released in 2029, according to the Dui Hua Foundation. Lin’s release was welcomed by some US politicians, who also called for the release of other Americans detained abroad. “I am extremely glad to hear David Lin was freed,” Rep. Michael McCaul said Sunday in a statement on social media. “However, Kai Li and Texan Mark Swidan still remain CCP prisoners — and must be freed now.”
