Families of Americans detained in China share their pain and urge US to get them home

WASHINGTON (AP) — The families of four Americans detained in China said Wednesday that their loved ones are suffering both physically and mentally, urging the U.S. government to take action to bring them home.

Appearing before the Congressional-Executive Commission of China, the families of Kai Li, Mark Swidan, Dawn Michelle Hunt and Nelson Wells Jr. — all of whom have been detained in China for at least eight years — cast a spotlight on the longstanding issue that has gained new attention with the release this week of American pastor David Lin, who was behind bars for almost 20 years.

More Americans are detained in China than in any other foreign country, according to the commission created by Congress to monitor human rights in the communist country. The panel has vowed to bring to light the harrowing stories of the other Americans detained in China and keep pressure on the Biden administration to act.

“This is American human rights being violated with impunity,” said Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican who chairs the commission.

At the hearing, Harrison Li said his father had suffered a stroke and lost a tooth and that he was largely locked in a cell for three years when China imposed draconian restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kai Li is serving 10 years in a Shanghai jail on what rights groups say are trumped-up charges of spying and stealing state secrets.

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