美国议员呼吁拜登总统在任期结束前，积极致力于推动被错误羁押于中国的美籍人士获得释放，并指出了当前美国政府为解决这一问题所应采取的更多举措。
他们在给拜登总统的一封信中提到：“目前，在中国遭错误拘留的美国公民人数多过其他国家。这些美国公民在中国面临着长达数十年的监禁，其中大多数人的判决存在严重的正当程序瑕疵或基于无端指控。许多人在中国监狱里遭受虐待，因缺乏适当的营养和医疗护理而患上了严重身心疾病。”
信中强调指出，这些被错误羁押的美籍人士应得到坚定倡导以实现其释放，并提及近期听证会上家属们关于其亲人承受的心理与身体痛苦以及缺乏合法救济渠道的陈述。
中国驻华盛顿大使馆暂未对此事回应。中国政府则否认了相关指控并声称已妥善处理在美国公民的拘留事件，尊重他们的法律权利。
人权组织也有类似对被羁押在中国监狱中的美国人的处境提出过批评。
关于确切数量不甚明确，各估计值存在差异。被囚禁在美国的家属以及活动人士表示，美国政府应将被列入“错误羁押”名单的人数扩大化。美国国务院目前仅认定三位美国人在中国遭受不公正拘留，包括上月获释的牧师林大卫。
来自纽约州长岛的李凯及得克萨斯州商人马克·斯威丹在内的情况也是讨论焦点。Dui Hua组织估计有超过200名美国公民“受强制措施影响”在中国境内。
信中特别提到，根据最近一次美国国务卿会议，被拘留时间最长的中国监狱囚犯李凯，在狱中的监禁时间甚至超过了俄罗斯近年来被释放的三名美国人，包括保罗·惠兰、伊万·格什科维奇和阿路莎·库尔玛谢娃三人所加的总时间。
信件中指出：“美国政府需将释放被错误拘留的公民视为与中国高层会晤的优先议题。”
议员们还敦促拜登总统与这些在中国被捕的美国人亲属进行会面，以及加强白宫和国务院官员与其的沟通频度，分享个案信息并提高透明度以找到外交途径来获释他们的亲朋好友。
此外，呼吁增加美国驻华领事官对在押人员的访问频率，“确保与家人更长、更频繁的会面，并确保提供充分法律代表及医疗护理的接入权”。
在近期国会委员会听证会上，被拘留者李凯之子哈里森·李向拜登总统小组陈述其父亲在中国监狱中曾遭受中风和丢失牙齿的健康问题，并在新冠疫情爆发期间有大部分时间被关押在一个囚室内。他强调，新一届政府即将就任之际是推动释放父亲的关键时刻。
信件称：“在这位拜登总统任期余下时间里，在与中国进行公平谈判以实现最终将我父亲带回家的协议前，这几个月至关重要。”
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.
