China frees American pastor David Lin who US claims was wrongly jailed

China has released American citizen David Lin, a pastor who has been held in the country for almost two decades, the US State Department confirmed on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the State Department said the US welcomed Lin’s release from prison.

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

Lin is one of several Americans whom the US has deemed unjustly detained in China. His release, coming weeks after US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, marks notable progress in a persistent source of bilateral tension.

Lin’s daughter, Alice Lin, told Politico that Sullivan raised her father’s case in Beijing.