中国允许被禁离境三年的美国籍姐弟返美
9/28/2021
美国官员透露，自2018年起被禁止离开中国的一对美国籍华裔姐弟获准离境，并于上周末回到美国。此事发生在华为首席财务官孟晚舟一案结束不久后。
根据路透社报道，美国国务院发言人对此表示：“我们欢迎辛西娅·刘（Cynthia Liu）和维克多·刘（Victor Liu）星期天回到美国。”发言人补充说，美国驻上海领事人员帮助促成了这对姐弟的离开，并称“将继续代表所有在中国受到任意拘留和强制禁止出境的美国公民进行呼吁。”
白宫拒绝就此发表评论。
报道指出，维克多·刘和辛西娅·刘尽管没有面临刑事指控，但根据一项“出境禁令”，他们被禁止离开中国。他们的父亲、在逃的中国银行广州分行党委书记、行长刘昌明受到北京通缉，并面临欺诈指控。
据《纽约时报》和BBC此前报道，2007年离开中国的刘昌明，于2015年被列入中国“天网”行动全球通缉外逃人员的百人名单。
2018年6月，刘昌明的女儿辛西娅·刘及儿子维克多·刘，陪同他们的美籍华裔母亲桑德拉·韩（Sandra Han）到中国探望一名生病的亲属。
三人抵达中国后不久，桑德拉·韩就被逮捕，并被带到一个秘密的拘留点，她因刑事指控被拘押至今。
中国警方当时还告诉这对姐弟，他们没有因犯罪而被调查，也不会被起诉。但姐弟前后三次尝试离境中国都不成功。
这对姐弟称，警方正试图通过将家庭成员作为人质来迫使他们的父亲返回中国接受犯罪指控，但父亲在2012年就与家庭断绝了联系。
中国外交部当时对此回应说，这三名刘昌明的家庭成员都拥有中国公民的合法有效身份证件。由于涉嫌经济犯罪，中国警方依法限制他们离境。
据了解， 桑德拉·韩和在麦肯锡咨询公司工作的辛西娅·刘是在中国出生的华裔美国人，而当时是华盛顿乔治城大学大二学生的维克多·刘则出生于美国，他们都使用了美国护照入境中国。
在这对姐弟获准离开前，美国检察官刚撤销了针对孟晚舟的案件，并于周六释放她从加拿大回到中国。
孟晚舟被拘留不久后被中国逮捕的两名加拿大人几乎于同一时间从中国拘留所释放，并被送回加拿大。
北京方面上周日解释称，两名加国公民因身患疾病申请取保候审获批，中国法院依法决定中止审案。
白宫周一否认孟晚舟和加拿大人同时被释放是“人质交换”，强调两者之间“并无联系”。
American siblings back home after 3 years trapped in China
CBS/AP
9/28/2021
Beijing — A pair of American siblings who were trapped for three years in China have returned home after Beijing lifted a so-called “exit ban” following Canada’s release of a top Chinese tech executive wanted in the U.S. on fraud charges. A State Department spokesperson said Cynthia and Victor Liu returned to the U.S. on Sunday after consular staff in Shanghai helped facilitate their departure.
A pair of Canadians held in China were also permitted to leave after Canada released Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou on Friday.
The State Department spokesperson, quoted on routine condition of anonymity in an undated statement, added that the U.S. opposes the use of “coercive exit bans against people who are not themselves charged with crimes” and would continue to “advocate on behalf of all American citizens in (China) subject to arbitrary detention and coercive exit bans.”
It was never clear why China had imposed an exit ban on the American siblings, and there case was never explicitly linked by Beijing to the detention of Meng in Canada.
The Lius traveled to China in 2018 to pay respects to their dying grandmother, but then found authorities blocking their departure at every border point.
Their estranged father, Liu Changming, is one of China’s most wanted fugitives. Liu, who fled the country in 2007, is the former executive of a state-owned bank and is linked to a $1.4 billion fraud case. The siblings’ lawyer has said the Chinese government was using them to try to convince their father to return to China, even though Cynthia and Victor always insisted they had no way of contacting him.
In a video shared exclusively with CBS News in 2019, Cynthia Liu described being trapped in China as traumatic.
“We’ve done nothing wrong, and we need to go home,” Cynthia said. “We wake up every morning terrified.”
Cynthia was working for a New York consulting firm and Victor was studying at Georgetown University for his undergraduate degree when they arrived in China.
“Each time when they present themselves at the border, they are taken to a room, and then they are ultimately told that they are not allowed to leave,” the siblings’ lawyer David Pressman told CBS News’ Margaret Brennan in 2019. “Victor barely understands the language. I mean, it’s bewildering, it’s difficult, it’s stressful.”
