An American pastor held in a Chinese jail for nearly two decades is finally home

CNN —

A pastor who the United States says was wrongfully detained in a Chinese prison for nearly two decades has been released, according to the State Department, ending a case that the Biden administration said was a top priority in efforts to stabilize relations with Beijing.

David Lin, 68, was detained in China in 2006 after helping to construct an unapproved church building. He was later sentenced to life in prison for contract fraud, a charge he denied.

Lin was one of three Americans deemed by the US State Department to have been wrongfully detained in China. Businessmen Kai Li and Mark Swidan are still held behind bars, on espionage and drug-related charges respectively.

“We welcome David Lin’s release from prison in the People’s Republic of China,” a spokesperson for the US State Department said in a statement Sunday.

“He has returned to the United States and now gets to see his family for the first time in nearly 20 years,” the statement added.

The Biden administration has in recent years stepped up diplomatic efforts to secure the release of the three men.

American officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, have repeatedly raised the issue during their visits to China, citing it as a “top priority” to resolve their cases.

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President Joe Biden also addressed the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping when they met in person in San Fransisco in November and spoke by phone earlier this year, according to readouts from the White House.

Lin visited China frequently in the 1990s and started to preach the Gospel there in