A Chinese Christian human rights lawyer who represented persecuted religious believers before fleeing China has been released on bond after spending nine days in U.S. immigration detention, despite having been granted asylum.
Wu Shaoping was released on 24th July after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following a traffic stop in Pennsylvania while delivering packages for Amazon.
His arrest prompted appeals from human rights advocates and members of Congress, who warned he would face serious danger if deported to China.
Speaking to reporters after attending Chinese Bible Church of Lancaster on Sunday, Wu said he was still recovering from his time at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, where he struggled to sleep in a large, noisy room shared with around 60 detainees, according to Lancaster Online.
ChinaAid President Bob Fu was among those calling for Wu's release, urging the US government not to deport him under any circumstances.
Following his release, Wu thanked supporters in a message to Fu, saying: "I am deeply grateful for everyone's wholehearted help, which made it possible for me to regain my freedom."
Last week, US. Representative James P. McGovern, co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, also urged immigration authorities to release Wu.
Wu was a commercial lawyer in Shanghai before joining China's human rights legal movement following the Chinese government's 2015 "709 Crackdown", a sweeping campaign against lawyers and legal activists.
He went on to represent house church Christians, Falun Gong practitioners, democracy advocates and others targeted by the authorities.
After attending a gathering of human rights lawyers that became the focus of a government crackdown in 2019, Wu fled China and arrived in the United States the following year, where he later applied for and was granted political asylum.
During a ChinaAid family retreat in Texas in 2022, Wu, his wife and daughter were baptised by Bob Fu and Christian counsellor Scott Wood.
"He was so inspired by these persecuted Christians that he represented, and he felt a conviction to follow Christ," Fu told a reporter last week.
Although released on bond, Wu remains in immigration proceedings and is due to report to an ICE field office in York, Pennsylvania. He told reporters he remains authorised to work in the United States and plans to continue delivering packages for Amazon.
"I am very confident in my case," Wu said. "I believe Americans still believe in the rule of law."
ChinaAid welcomed Wu's release and thanked the elected officials, human rights advocates and supporters who had called for him to be freed.
