众议院议员与参议员联名致信美国总统乔·拜登（Joe Biden），呼吁其在任期结束前集中精力推动释放被错误扣押在中国境内的美国公民。他们在信件中强调了美国政府官员应当采取更多举措以协助保障这些公民的自由。
新泽西州共和党众议员克里斯·史密斯（Chris Smith）和俄勒冈州民主党参议员杰夫·默克利（Jeff Merkley），同时也是国会-行政委员会中国小组的联合主席，在给拜登的信中指出：在中国被错误扣押的美国公民人数居全球之首。信中称：“我们的国民在中共境内服刑已久，多数判决存在严重程序性不当或基于虚假指控，且其合法权益屡受侵犯。”
史密斯和默克利进一步描述了这些被扣留者在囚禁中的苦难情况：他们长期遭受身体与心理双重折磨，在中国监狱里营养不良、医疗照顾不足，健康问题日益凸显。信中强调：“这些人理应得到我们政府坚持不懈的援助以争取释放。”
近期，二人领导进行了听证会，让那些家人讲述自己亲人在没有法律渠道的情况下受困于心理和生理痛苦的情形。中共驻华盛顿大使馆未立即对此提出评论。
中共方面否认了这些指控，并坚持声称对被扣押的美国公民提供了适当的待遇并尊重他们的合法权利。同样地，人权组织也针对中国在押美籍人员的情况提出了类似指称。
确切数量及具体情况仍在模糊不清之中，估计数字存在差异。被囚者家庭与权志倡导者认为，美国政府应扩大错误被扣押者的名单。国务院目前认可有三名美国人被不公正关押在中国境内：传教士林大卫（David Lin），上月已获释放；此外还有来自纽约长岛的黎凯（Kai Li）和德克萨斯州商人马克·苏典（Mark Swidan）。
中国自由倡议团体“杜胡”（Dui Hua Foundation）估计，有超过200名美国人在中国受到强制措施。18年，黎被判处十年监禁，指控其间谍罪；他的家人认为这些指控无实据。2019年，苏典被判贩毒相关罪刑，他是于2012年被捕的。支持者声称他当时不在中国犯罪现场。
在致拜登的信中，议员们指出，黎被关押时间超过了最近从俄罗斯释放回国的三名美国公民，保罗·韦兰（Paul Whelan）、埃文·格尔施科维茨（Evan Gershkovich）和阿尔苏·库尔马舍娃（Alsu Kurmasheva）。他们强调：“这种状况必须改变。”信中提出：“在你即将与中共总书记及国家主席习近平的会谈中，释放美国人应是优先事项。”
议员们提到，中国当局利用所谓“出口禁令”，对美国公民进行非法扣押，或是为了解决经济纠纷或施压其亲属返回接受指控。他们呼吁：若中国政府希望改善中美关系，就必须无条件地释放所有被错误关押的美国人，并终结使用这一形式的实质人质行为。
议员们的信中还要求拜登会面听取被中国扣押公民的家庭情况，并增加白宫和国务院官员与这些家庭沟通频率，分享案件信息，更透明地讨论外交途径，以争取他们的亲人获释。他们建议应让美国驻华领事更多次地访问关押在狱中的美国人，“确保他们能与家人见面的频率更长、次数更频繁”，并保障获得律师援助及健康照护。
在上个月国会委员会听证会上，黎的儿子哈里森·黎表示，在狱中，父亲曾因脑梗失去了一颗牙齿，并且大部分时间被关押在单独牢房内。当中国实施疫情严格限制时，他遭受了长时间的孤独囚禁。他向议员们强调，在新政府接手后，宝贵的时机可能会丧失，呼吁应抓紧行动争取释放父亲。信中指出：“在这接下来的几个月里，对乔·拜登总统来说至关重要，以谈判一个公平的协议，最终把我的父亲带回家。”
新闻来源：www.nbcnews.com
原文地址：Lawmakers from both parties urge Biden to secure the release of Americans imprisoned in China
新闻日期：2024-10-04
原文摘要：
Lawmakers are appealing to President Joe Biden to use the remaining time in his term to work for the release of Americans who are “wrongfully detained” in China, saying U.S. officials need to do more to help secure their freedom. “There are more Americans wrongfully detained in China than in any other country. American citizens are serving long prison terms in China; most were sentenced with acute due process irregularities or on spurious charges,” Republican Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon wrote in a letter to the president. “Many are severely mistreated in detention and have developed serious physical and mental health problems due to a lack of adequate nutrition or medical care in Chinese prisons. They deserve tenacious advocacy to gain their release,” said Smith and Merkley, co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. The lawmakers recently oversaw hearings in which families of those detained spoke about how their loved ones are suffering psychologically and physically without legal recourse. China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China has denied the allegations and says it has treated detained Americans properly and respected their legal rights. Human rights groups have made similar allegations about the status of Americans held behind bars in China. The precise number of U.S. citizens who are detained under questionable circumstances remains unclear, and estimates vary. Families of imprisoned Americans and rights advocates say the U.S. government should expand its list of those deemed to be “wrongfully detained.” The State Department recognizes three Americans as unjustly detained in China, including David Lin, a pastor who was released last month. The other two Americans are Kai Li and Mark Swidan. Dui Hua, a rights group that advocates for detainees in China, estimates there are more than 200 Americans “under coercive measures” in China. Li, from Long Island, New York, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in 2018 for espionage. His family says the charges are baseless. Swidan, a Texas businessman, was detained in 2012 and convicted on drug-related charges in 2019. His advocates say he was not in China at the time of the alleged crime. In their letter to Biden, the lawmakers said Li has spent more time behind bars than three Americans recently released from prison in Russia, Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, combined. “This must change,” they wrote. “The release of Americans should be a top priority item in any upcoming meetings you have with the PRC [People’s Republic of China] General Secretary and President Xi Jinping,” the letter stated. The Chinese government uses “exit bans” to unjustly detain Americans “either to settle economic disputes or to coerce their 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 should release Americans who are wrongfully imprisoned without condition and unilaterally end the use of ‘exit bans,’ a form of de facto hostage-taking,” they said. The lawmakers’ letter also asks Biden to meet with the families of Americans detained in China, and to have White House and State Department officials meet with them more frequently to share information about their cases and be more transparent about potential diplomatic avenues to win their loved ones’ release. The lawmakers called for U.S. consular officials in China to visit the detained Americans more often, “secure longer and more frequent visits with their families, and ensure proper access to legal representation and health care.” At a hearing last month before the commission, Li’s son Harrison Li said his father suffered a stroke and lost a tooth while in prison and that he was locked in a cell for most of three years when China imposed drastic restrictions during the Covid pandemic. He told the lawmakers that precious time will be lost after a new administration takes office in January and that now was the time to push for his father’s release. “The next few months will be critical before President Biden leaves office to … negotiate a fair deal that will finally bring my dad home,” he said.
