China frees David Lin, American pastor who U.S. government says was wrongfully detained for 18 years– www.cbsnews.com
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China’s Mid-Autumn Festival holiday typically sees families reunite and give thanks, much like Thanksgiving in America. This year, Chinese-American pastor David Lin will have much to be thankful for when the holiday is marked on Tuesday. In a surprise move, Beijing freed the 68-year-old Sunday after he spent nearly 20 years in prison in a case the U.S. government and his family have always dismissed as baseless.
Lin entered China in 2006 and attempted to establish a Christian training center in Beijing. China‘s Communist Party disapproves of such activities and routinely roots out underground Christian churches, seeing them as a threat to its power. Only officially-sanctioned, closely monitored churches are permitted under the Communist Party’s rule.
Lin was detained the same year he arrived, then in 2009 he was handed a life sentence after being convicted of fraud. The charge is often applied to home church leaders who try to raise money for expansion, according to the Dui Hua Foundation human rights group.
The U.S. State Department, which always maintained that Lin was wrongfully detained by China, confirmed his release on Sunday. The Chinese government did not make any public comment on Lin’s release during the long holiday weekend.
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