Bipartisan lawmakers push Biden to secure release of Americans detained in China before January

Bipartisan lawmakers on Friday pleaded for President Joe Biden to secure the release of the remaining Americans who are wrongfully detained in China before he leaves the White House in January.

The lawmakers, Oregon Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, and GOP New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith, held a hearing last month where families of the detained Americans testified about the treatments of their family members in Chinese prisons. 

China released Southern California pastor David Lin recently, after he was detained for nearly 20 years, but two Americans, Kai Li and Mark Swidan, are still considered "wrongfully detained" by the United States government.

Harrison Li, whose father has been detained in China since 2016, also urged Biden to get his father released before leaving office, and testified that a new administration would stall negotiations while communication and leverage is rebuilt.

“There are more Americans wrongfully detained in China than in any other country," Smith and Merkley wrote in a joint letter to the White House. "American citizens are serving long prison terms in China; most were sentenced with acute due process irregularities or on spurious charges. 

"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 continued. "They deserve tenacious advocacy to gain their release."

Although the State Department just label Li and Swidan as "wrongfully detained," the rights group Dui Hua, which advocates for detainees in China, believes more than 200 Americans are “under coercive measures” in China, per NBC News.

“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 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.'"

The lawmakers also urged Biden to meet with the family members of those who are detained, and provide more transparency in the efforts of the State Department and White House to bring them home. 

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.