3 Americans detained in China released in prisoner exchange, return to US

Three American citizens detained for years in China have been released, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday.

They are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung.

The three Americans were back in the United States, having returned via Lackland Air Force Base, part of Joint Base San Antonio in Texas, an administration official confirmed Thursday.

The official declined to provide further information, citing privacy concerns.

Li, 62, a native of Long Island, New York, was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 on espionage charges that his family considers baseless. Swidan, a Texas businessman in his 40s, had been detained since 2012 and received a suspended death sentence in 2019 after being convicted of drug charges that a United Nations working group said , had no evidentiary basis.

Li and Swidan were considered wrongfully detained by the State Department.

Leung, an American in his 60s who also resides permanently in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being convicted of espionage by a court there. is from China. Leung, who was arrested in 2021, was a member of a pro-Beijing group in the United States and had been photographed with senior Chinese officials, according to Hong Kong and Chinese media.

Kai Li. Free Kai Li / Facebook

Their release was part of a prisoner swap for Xu Yanjun, a Chinese Ministry of State Security officer, and Ji Chaoqun, a Chinese national, a U.S. government official said.

Xu was arrested after an alleged attempt to steal technology from GE Aviation, a US supplier of aircraft engines. Ji was accused of spying for the Chinese government.

Biden told reporters Thursday that he had spoken with the three Americans.

“I’m really happy they’re home,” Biden said.

The White House did not specify who, if anyone, would be released in exchange for U.S. citizens. China's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that three Chinese citizens wrongly detained by the United States have returned to China safely.

The senior official and another U.S. official said the release had been in the works for months.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he has worked closely over the years with Li's son, Harrison Li, to speak directly to the highest levels of government Chinese and American to advocate for Mr. Li's release and safe return to his country. family in Huntington, New York.

Even when it felt like there was no hope, we never stopped believing that one day Mr. Li would return home, he said in a statement on Wednesday. I look forward to welcoming Mr. Li at his home in New York very soon.

For the families of the three freed Americans on this Thanksgiving, there is so much to be grateful for, he added.

The news was first reported by Politico.

Mark Swidan. Mark Swidan / Facebook.

Wednesday's announcement follows the surprise release in September of American pastor David Lin, who, like Li and Swidan, had been classified as wrongly detained by the State Department. He had been imprisoned in China since 2006 after being sentenced to life in prison for contract fraud.

The Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors the rights of prisoners in China, estimates that there are about 200 U.S. detainees, more than in any other foreign country, including imprisoned Americans as well as those prevented from leaving the country while A case is currently under investigation. .

With the return of Li and Swidan, all Americans officially designated as wrongly detained in China have been released, the State Department spokesperson said.

Peter Humphrey, a British advocate for foreigners detained in China who himself was imprisoned there for two years after being convicted of what he says were trumped-up charges of illegal information gathering, is not agreement with this characterization.

According to his research, he says, there are nearly 300 Americans detained in China, and none have had a fair, impartial and transparent trial, which is the basic criterion under American law for a citizen to be arbitrarily declared detained by a foreign state. .

Beijing says all cases are handled according to law.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry added that the government has always firmly opposed the United States using political motives to oppress and persecute Chinese citizens.

Thanks to the Chinese government's persistent efforts, three Chinese citizens wrongly detained by the United States have returned to China safely, spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular news briefing in Beijing. This once again proves that China will never abandon its own people.

Mao said a fugitive who had been hiding in the United States for many years had also been deported to China.

John Leung.nacpu.org

This shows that justice is inevitable and no place can be a haven for criminals forever, she said.

Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and others have repeatedly raised the issue of detained Americans in meetings with Chinese officials, including during Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the cooperation forum Asia-Pacific economy in Peru earlier this month.

In a statement released Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, praised their efforts.

Negotiations to secure the release of unjustly detained Americans are among the most difficult and heartbreaking tasks our diplomats face, and they have demonstrated unrelenting dedication, culminating in today's release, a he declared.

But families of Americans detained in China have been frustrated by the slow progress, particularly as large prisoner swaps were negotiated with Russia and other countries. In September, Swidan's mother, Katherine Swidan, and Harrison Li were among relatives who appeared before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China to pressure the Biden administration to do more.

I have now spent a third of my life missing my father, Li told the hearing. Every day I wake up and shudder to see him crammed into a small cell with up to 11 other people.

Li said that in the past eight years, his father suffered a stroke, lost a tooth and spent more than three years essentially locked in his cell 24/7 due to restrictions Chinese issues linked to the zero Covid pandemic. He also expressed concern that efforts to free his father and others could be slowed by the change in administration in January.

Other families who appeared at the hearing are still awaiting the return of their loved ones detained in China, including Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt.

As they share the joy of the three Americans' release, Humphrey said, “They also say, 'Now what about us and what about everyone else?'

CORRECTION (November 27, 2024, 6:32 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Kai Lis' age. He is 62 years old, not 70 years old.

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