Both Harrison Li and Katherine Swidan are concerned that they would never see their loved ones again.
Kai Li, Harrison Li’s father, and Mark Swidan, Katherine Swidan’s son, are both Americans who have been imprisoned in China for years and have been identified as illegally held by the US State Department.
With Secretary of State Antony Blinken set to visit China in the coming days, Harrison Li and Katherine Swidan are hoping that their liberation will be prioritised.
“It has to be the number one priority,” Swidan told AWN.
Harrison Li, whose father has been imprisoned since 2016 on espionage accusations, told AWN that his father is concerned about the spread of Covid in his prison amid the spike in China, particularly because he is not vaccinated. Harrison Li stated that Kai Li’s father died lately as a result of Covid problems.
“How many more individuals will my father never see again? “Or, God forbid, would my father arrive in a box?” he wondered. “I just don’t know at this moment, and considering the circumstances and position in China, it’s honestly rather frightening.”
“Our government must hear this and act quickly before it is too late,” Harrison Li told AWN.
Harrison Li and the other families “learned to keep our expectations as low as possible since failure to do so will certainly lead to disappointment,” he said. They do, however, want Blinken to bring up the names of their family members and advocate for their release.
“The US government must be prepared to make a fair and reasonable offer and negotiate the release of these Americans unfairly detained, just as it has with Americans detained in other countries,” Harrison Li said.
According to a senior US administration official, the situations of the wrongfully detained detainees, including Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and David Lin, are front and centre as Blinken prepares for his trip to Beijing.
The administration is aware that the Chinese are likely attempting to “extort a price” from the US on the topic, the individual said, adding that the administration is willing to pay “high prices” to bring Americans home. However, no actual negotiations to reach an agreement appear to be taking place.
“We will not preview the details of confidential diplomatic conversations,” a State Department official told AWN, adding, “In any country when US people are wrongfully held, we raise those instances at every opportunity.”
“Secretary Blinken emphasised that he is personally focused on and prioritises the repatriation of US persons unfairly held in the PRC,” the spokeswoman added. “We will continue to lobby on behalf of unlawfully jailed US nationals in the PRC and try to support their families. Officials at all levels of this administration are constantly advocating for the release of US nationals who have been unlawfully incarcerated in the PRC.”
Meanwhile, Katherine Swidan claims she hasn’t seen her son’s face since he was arrested on drug-related charges in 2012. Instead, Mark has been held for more than a decade in what his mother refers to as a “holding tank,” where he has been subjected to physical and psychological torture and has tried suicide.
In 2019, he was sentenced to death. A UN working group found that his arrest is arbitrary and demanded that he be released immediately.
“He’s been in there for 10 years, where they never turn the lights off, so as a result, he’s going blind. “He’s got fractures in his leg,” she claimed, adding that the facility’s guards “broke his hands five to seven times.”
“He’s in pain and has an infection. He suffers from severe periodontal disease. He has holes in his mouth that regularly bleed. He’s dropped 130 pounds. And there is no sign that any US officials will be allowed to visit.” According to Katherine Swidan.
She told AWN that her son has sent her letters about the horrors he has witnessed, and in one of his most recent letters, he said, “I will return home in the box of ashes or I will come home on a jet walking off to you, but I will come home.”
“It kills me a little bit every day as a mom,” Katherine Swidan said. “I’m a fantastic illustration of how your heart may crumble in small bits every day.”
“I refuse to accept that the world’s most powerful country cannot bring Mark home,” she continued.