Cloud, Cruz call for Swidan’s release from China

Two Texas lawmakers are calling for China to release Mark Swidan, a Luling native who has been held captive that country for more than a decade on drug charges they believe are bogus and without merit.

Congressman Mike Cloud, R-Victoria, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, introduced a joint resolution on Wednesday, Feb. 1, supporting the release of Swidan, who in 2012, was preparing to leave China after a trip procuring furnishings for his home and business when Chinese police entered his hotel room and arrested him on suspicions of being a part of a criminal drug organization.

One year later, in November 2013, he was tried by the Jiangmen Intermediate People’s Court with 10 other defendants. After 21 delays approved by the Guangdong High Court and the Supreme People’s Court, the court found Mr. Swidan guilty and sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve in 2019. Swidan has appealed the judgment and is awaiting the decision.

No drugs were ever recovered from Mark Swidan or his hotel room, nor did the Chinese prosecution ever produce any forensic evidence such as text messages or emails implicating him. Also, records in Swidan’s passport indicate he was not in China during the time of the offense, and the other individuals indicted related to the conspiracy could not identify Swidan.

Swidan is being held in inhumane conditions in a detainment facility intended to hold individuals for up to 48 hours. As a result, he has not slept in the dark in over 10 years and has been subjected to extreme heat in the summer months and freezing cold in the winter. Mark also endures physical abuse by his captors and is denied medical assistance.

 “I am grateful to work with Senator Cruz and fellow Texas members in introducing this resolution advocating for the immediate release of Mark Swidan and condemning the People’s Republic of China,” said Cloud. “Bringing Mark Swidan home to his family should be a top priority for this administration. Too many innocent Americans remain wrongfully imprisoned by authoritarian regimes who are happy to collect human lives as capital for future political bargaining.  Mark Swidan has been detained for over 10 years. He and his loved ones have remained strong these 10 years, and I am committed to ensuring that he can return to Texas.”

Last May, Sen. Cruz sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the State Department calling for them to take urgent action to secure Swidan’s release.

“Mark Swidan’s captivity must come to an end for himself, for his family, and for the United States,” Cruz said. “Secretary Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing should be the final chapter in this tragedy. I am calling on the Biden administration to use all the tools at our disposal to secure his release, and on the government of China to finally release him and return him home.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken was planning to meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang last week. However, Blinken postponed his visit, saying Friday that it was in response to a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States.

Fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn echoed Cruz’s sentiments. 

“For the last decade, Mark Swidan’s family has tirelessly fought for his return after he was wrongfully detained and sentenced to death by the Chinese government. The human rights abuses Mark has suffered at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party are horrific, and I will continue to push the Biden administration to expedite his case and secure his release,” Cornyn said.

This resolution is co-sponsored in the House by Reps. McCaul, Gonzalez, Crenshaw, Garcia, Sessions, Green, Ellzey, Hunt, Fallon, De La Cruz, Luttrell, Babin, Nehls, Self, Weber, Roy, Moran, Pfluger, Jackson, Burgess, Van Duyne, Cuellar, Arrington, Allred, Carter, Veasey, Gooden, Granger, Castro, and Williams.

The calls for his release come after two Texans were released last year from Russia — Brittney Griner, a WNBA player, and a former Marine Trevor Reed. Griner was arrested in Russia last year for carrying vape canisters and cannabis oil in her luggage. Reed was also released from Russia last year after being arrested in 2019 when he was taken to jail for public intoxication. Both were released in swaps for Russian prisoners detained in the U.S.

Swidan was arrested alongside 11 others who Chinese authorities said were part of an organization manufacturing drugs. But, the 11 could not identify him, according to the U.N. report.

Swidan’s conviction relied on evidence that he once visited a factory that police found had once been used to manufacture drugs, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, a nonprofit that focuses on gaining clemency and better treatment for detainees.

The Dui Hua Foundation report said that Swidan has lost more than 100 pounds since being detained.

The U.N. review also highlighted Swidan’s deteriorating health and the bleak conditions he has been detained in, adding that he has been subjected to “severe psychological torture for the purpose of extracting a confession.”

The Texas Tribune contributed to this report.