China frees US pastor after nearly 20 years of wrongful detainment

China on Sunday released U.S. pastor David Lin, who has been in jail since 2006 in what the State Department has deemed was a wrongful detainment. 

The now 68-year-old pastor was formally arrested in 2009 for ‘contract fraud’ and sentenced to life in prison after allegedly aiding a non-government sanctioned house church. His sentence was later reduced and he was set to be released in April 2030.

According to a U.S.-based China advocacy group, China Aid, which was founded to assist persecuted activists, Lin had been traveling to China since the 1990s for missionary work.

Lin reportedly applied for a license through the Chinese government to organize a Christian ministry, but the request is believed to have been denied.

House churches are congregations in China that have not been approved by the Chinese government, but are reportedly picking up traction across the country despite government crackdowns, according to Christian websites. 

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in 2019 warned that it suspected Lin was being targeted in prison due to his faith, and voiced concern over his safety and health.

‘Before his imprisonment, Pastor Lin was active in Beijing’s house church movement, which has long-faced hostility from Chinese authorities,’ the USCIRF said in a 2019 statement. ‘House churches are independent of state-sponsored religious organizations, and those who participate in and lead house churches often face intimidation, harassment, arrest, and harsh sentences.’

The State Department did not respond to specific questions from Fox News Digital regarding Lin’s release but instead said,’We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China.’ 

‘He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,’ the spokesperson added. 

Reports show that the Biden administration has been attempting to secure Lin’s release for years, including as recently as July when Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos.

The administration, U.S. rights groups and lawmakers on the Hill continue to call for the release of other Americans still wrongfully held in China, including businessman Kai Li, who is being held on alleged espionage-related charges, and Mark Swidan, who was sentenced on drug charges.  

Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt have also been ‘wrongfully imprisoned’ over alleged drug-related charges, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a U.S.-based human rights group that focuses on political prisoners and other at-risk detainees.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.