Erika Kinetz
Associated Press
Daniel Hsu, an American citizen seen in an apartment in Shanghai, China in 2020, struggled to escape from China for four years. Although there is no crime, Seattle residents are still prohibited from leaving, which is a pawn in the geopolitical game between the two superpowers.
Brussels (Associated Press)-American citizen Daniel Xu fought for four years to escape from China.
Although there was no crime, Seattle residents were still barred from leaving. Then in November, just four days before the virtual meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Xu was told to go home. He has less than 48 hours.
“It was a total rush,” he told the Associated Press in a telephone interview from his Seattle home.
Before Biden and Xi Jinping held a video conference for more than three hours on November 15, Xu knew nothing about the equestrian trade between China and the United States. Both countries seem to be trying to ease the tension in the tension. Relationship, and Xu became a bargaining chip. He can return to Seattle, and seven Chinese citizens convicted of crimes in the United States will be sent back to China.
China’s ability to make deals by effectively holding people like Xu hostage has raised concerns that Beijing may boldly strengthen this approach.
Sophie Richardson, director of the China Department of Human Rights Watch, said: “Beijing no longer has the deterrent force to do this.” “The problem is that if you take a truly principled path, many people will still be arbitrarily detained in China.”
An American official familiar with the government’s talks with Beijing told the Associated Press that Xu is not a “deliverable” of the Biden-Xi meeting. In some people’s eyes, it is the result of long-term continuous efforts like an exchange of prisoners. Beijing fulfills its international obligations. The official has no right to comment publicly and speak on condition of anonymity.
In Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian said that he did not know the details of Xu’s case, but China handled the matter in accordance with established rules.
“What I want to emphasize is that everyone is equal before the law, and the relevant Chinese authorities act in accordance with the law and regulations,” Zhao said at a regular press conference on November 24. Interference, defamation or misrepresentation is not tolerated. “
Xu told the Associated Press that he was actually held hostage by the Chinese authorities in an attempt to persuade his father to return to China and face justice for allegedly embezzling approximately US$63,000 20 years ago. Xu’s father said he was innocent and was the target of political vendetta.
According to Chinese law, the authorities have broad discretion to prevent Chinese citizens and foreigners from leaving China. The United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have all issued warnings that people can prevent them from leaving China at will.
Xu is not the first hostage diplomacy case involving China.
A few hours after Canada’s release of Meng Wanzhou, a powerful executive of the Chinese technology giant Huawei faced an extradition request from the United States on fraud charges. Beijing released two Canadians detained in China on national security charges. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs played down any connection with the Meng case. The next day, two American brothers and sisters who had been banned from leaving China for many years, like Xu, returned to the United States.
Hsu’s luck didn’t change until a few weeks before the November video conference. Xu said that he received a call from the US Embassy in Beijing on the afternoon of November 11. He was instructed to go to Guangzhou, a megacity in southern China, about 900 miles from his apartment in Shanghai, in order to catch an early flight back to China. Sunday morning.
He went to visit his 103-year-old grandmother. When he told her he was leaving, she cried. “I can see that she is wondering if she will see me again,” he said.
Xu never told his grandmother about his exit ban because he was worried about her health. He never told her that he had been held in solitary confinement for six months and had been under surveillance, and the lights had never been turned off. Or his wife-who did not commit any crimes-was also forbidden to leave China until last year, and they were not clear about the reason. As a result, their teenage daughter was actually orphaned in Seattle for nearly three years.
On the morning of Sunday, November 14, dawn broke in Guangzhou in the blue sky. At the airport, Hsu walked across the tarmac to the waiting Gulfstream 5 jet.
Xu said that he saw seven people disembarking, but he didn’t know who they were.
Only one—former Bank of China executive Xu Guojun—was handcuffed. China described Xu’s return as a “major achievement” in China’s global anti-corruption struggle. According to the US Department of Homeland Security, a federal court in Las Vegas convicted the former Bank of China manager on charges of conspiracy. He spent nearly 13 years in a US prison.
In 2019, two other returnees, Zhang Yujing and Lu Jing, tried to enter the Sea Lake Manor. The other two — Wang Yuhao and Zhang Jaelun — illegally filmed a naval air station in 2020. The last couple-Sun Yong and Tang Junliang-were convicted of financial crimes based on records from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice.
Then it was Xu’s turn. He carried a suitcase and a carry-on luggage and walked up the 10 boarding stairs.
“That was a relief,” Xu said. “As I sat in the chair, I took a deep breath.”
This year’s Thanksgiving is a big improvement over the holiday four years ago. Xu said he celebrated while in solitary confinement in Hefei, where he managed to persuade his caregiver to bring him a special KFC fried chicken meal.
During the six-hour flight from Guangzhou to Guam, Xu read “Dune” in Mandarin, played video games, and chatted with six immigration and customs enforcement officials. Then it stops in Guam for three hours, the flight to Honolulu takes seven hours, the stop in Hawaii for 24 hours, and the five-and-a-half hour flight to Phoenix.
In Phoenix, he transferred to a commercial flight, which was delayed for nearly three hours. When Biden and Xi talked about the need to avoid conflict, Xu paced at the airport, exhausted and aimless. “I tried to read or read something on the phone, but I couldn’t do it,” Xu said. “I can’t focus on anything. I can’t wait to see my wife.”
Finally, at about 10 o’clock in the evening, Xu landed in Seattle. A representative from the Office of the President’s Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs is waiting for him. The same is true for his wife Judy Chen.
“I just hugged her and gave her a hug,” Xu said. “It’s big and tight.”
“Welcome home,” Chen said.
