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Texans are fed up with the Chinese Communist Party holding Americans hostage and are calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to save Mark Swidan, a Houston businessman imprisoned in China for over a decade.

With Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting China this weekend, Texans are sending a clear message – save Americans, free Swidan!

Daily wire reports, Legislators from Texas are increasing pressure on the Biden administration to release a Houston businessman imprisoned in China.

On Wednesday, Ted Cruz (R-TX) delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor and introduced a resolution calling on the Chinese Communist Party to release Mark Swidan “immediately.”

This weekend, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China.

Cruz made an additional statement on Blinken’s visit to China stating, “Mark Swidan’s captivity must come to an end for himself, for his family, and for the United States,” Cruz said in a statement. “Secretary Blinken’s upcoming trip to Beijing should be the final chapter in this tragedy.”

Swidan has been in a Chinese prison since 2012.

KVUE reports, A decade has passed since Mark Swidan was imprisoned on drug charges in China. There is a possibility that he could die.

Mark Swidan was in China in 2012 buying flooring and fixtures. Officials accused him of buying and selling drugs, leading to his arrest and detention. He lost his fiancée, his freedom, and perhaps even his life.

His mother Katherine Sqidan stated “He’s never confessed through all the torture, the starvation,” 

The Chinese court sentenced Mark Swidan to death. While that is being delayed, his torturous detention is not ending.

His mother said “I’m already 72. I cannot … I cannot die without seeing his face again,” Katherine Swidan said with tears in her eyes. “I don’t want his legacy to be just a box of stuff. And if he does come back and I’m not here, I want him to know that I … I did everything I could possibly do.”

Texans are outraged at the arrest and continued detainment of Mark Swidan and are calling in no uncertain terms for Secretary of State Antony Blinken to save him this weekend. It is unacceptable that any American citizen should be held hostage by another nation, let alone a political prisoner like Mr Swidan who has not been convicted of any crime. It is past time for China to release him, either on it’s own or as part of a prisoner swap, so that he can come home. Texans demand they save American citizens and free Mr Swidan now.

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