O.C. pastor released from Chinese prison after 20 years

After almost 20 years in prison, the Chinese Government released a pastor representing an Orange County-based Evangelical Church abroad and allowed him to return to the U.S.

David Lin, 68, a member of the Evangelical Formosan Church of Orange County , had been traveling to China frequently since the 1990s to do ministry work.

According to China Aid , a U.S.-based advocacy group for persecuted activists in China, Lin applied for a license to advance the Christian faith in the country but was likely denied and subsequently detained in 2006 while working with an unauthorized church in China.

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Lin was convicted in 2009 and sentenced to a life term for contract fraud, charges Lin denied.

Although he had been slated to be released by 2030, efforts by evangelical groups and the State Department intensified amid reports that Lin was in failing health.

Monday morning, the State Department released a statement confirming that Lin had been flown back to the United States.

His family, now living in Texas, reacted with a text saying, "God Did It."

Lin is one of many Americans said to have been wrongly detained in China, which the Biden administration has been working to get released for years.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, "We'll continue to push the release of other Americans. It's something that we continue to work on. It's an important step forward, and we're going to continue to push..."

The department refused to comment on whether a prisoner swap or other accommodation had to be made to ensure Lin's release.

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