It took 17 years.
California Pastor David Lin has been freed from a Chinese prison after nearly two decades, according to a State Department announcement. The 68-year-old pastor, who was released after extensive international advocacy, is now reunited with his family in the U.S. Lin’s case attracted significant attention from free speech advocates and U.S. officials who argued he was wrongfully detained.
Lin, a U.S. citizen, was arrested in 2006 while working to establish a Christian training center in Beijing. Initially barred from leaving China, he was later detained and charged with fraud under unclear circumstances. Despite maintaining his innocence, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2009. Over the years, his sentence was reduced, but he was originally set to remain imprisoned until 2029.
Active in China’s underground house church movement, Lin’s activities faced significant resistance from Chinese authorities, who view these independent religious gatherings with hostility. Despite the harsh conditions and his prolonged imprisonment, Lin maintained a belief that his incarceration was part of a divine mission, as shared by his daughter in a 2019 interview.
In addition to Lin’s release, recent months have seen other significant cases involving religious detainees in China. Pastor John Cao, who had been imprisoned for organizing illegal border crossings, was released earlier this year. Meanwhile, Elder Zhang Chunlei, a leader of a house church, was sentenced to five years in prison for “subversion of state power” and “fraud” in a closely regulated court session.