Blinken 'actively talking' about three Americans detained in China - CBS News

[June 20, 2023]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday the United States and China were continuing to discuss the release of three U.S. citizens who are detained in China. 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. REUTERS/Leah Millis/Pool

"I don't want to get into the details, but we are very actively talking about that," Blinken said in an interview with CBS News.

The three detained Americans are David Lin, 67, a pastor imprisoned in China since 2006; Kai Li, 60, who was handed a 10-year sentence in 2018 on spying charges, and Mark Swidan, a Texas businessman convicted by a Chinese court in 2019.

Washington says all three are wrongfully detained.

Blinken said the United States has a commitment to continue to work on resolving all three cases. "I not only raised, but talked some length about the individual cases of the detained Americans," he said in the interview, held as he finished a rare trip to Beijing.

"It (their release) would, regardless of anything else be a very important and positive development and we're working intensely," Blinken said.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler)

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