Bipartisan lawmakers urge Biden to seek release of Americans detained in China

Two congressmen asked President Biden to further advocate for the release of wrongfully detained Americans in China in a letter Friday.

“American citizens are serving long prison terms in China; most were sentenced with acute due process irregularities or on spurious charges," the Congressional Executive Commission on China wrote in a statement. "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.”

The group chaired by Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) cited statistics from the Foley Foundation, which states the number of unjustly detained Americans globally decreased by 42 percent since 2023, adding the low numbers were “in part because your [Biden’s] Administration negotiated prisoner releases with Russia, Iran and Venezuela.”

They noted that Americans detained in China are serving an average of twelve years of imprisonment and encouraged for Biden to secure the release through meetings with President Xi Jinping. They referenced American citizen Kai Li, who has spent more time behind bars than Paul Whelan, Evan Gershkovich, and Alsu Kurmasheva combined. 

“This must change,” they pleaded.

Both and Mark Swidan, another detainee, have been deemed “unjustly detained” under the criteria set by the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. 

The bill was signed in 2020 creating a formal system tracking American hostages and the role of Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, whose duties include leading diplomatic engagement on U.S. hostage policy and recovery efforts. 

In the letter, the lawmakers urged Biden to meet with the families of citizens detained and provide them with regular updates on their status, in addition to facilitating prisoner check ins from the U.S. Consular. 

Nelson Wells, Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt, who both are Black, are also being detained by the Chinese government. The lawmakers said they heard “powerful” testimonies from their family members who said they are “targeted” by other prisoners because of their race and currently face “life threatening health conditions that Chinese authorities cannot or will not properly address.”

Congress members are asking for their immediate transfer to the U.S. 

“While we have not named them all, these cases represent many others who require immediate and sustained attention to be transferred out of Chinese prisons and brought home to the United States,” read the letter. 

Earlier this month, an American pastor jailed in China for contract fraud was released after 18 years, and lawmakers are hoping his case is not the last.