The White House announced Wednesday that three Americans had been released after spending years imprisoned in China.
Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung have been released and will “return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years,” according to a National Security Council spokesperson.
No information was given about what the U.S. gave China in return, and China did not say why it agreed to free the three men.
Chief of State Antony Blinken wrote on social media Wednesday night that he had talked to the three Americans “as they traveled home to the United States just in time for Thanksgiving.” I told them I was glad they were healthy and that they would soon be with their families again.
The Biden administration has brought up the issue of Americans being detained without a warrant many times with Chinese officials.
In November, President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping talked about the problem while they were both in Lima, Peru, for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
During several meetings in the past few months, Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan talked with Foreign Minister Wang Yi about freeing Americans who were wrongfully detained.
A spokesman for the National Security Council said, “All of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are now home thanks to this Administration’s work and diplomacy with the PRC.”
Swidan, a businessman from Texas who is 48 years old, was on death row in China. He had been in jail since 2012 because he was charged with trafficking drugs. United States says the charges against Swidan are false.
The State Department said he was being held illegally and has previously raised concerns about his health. Early this year, Swidan’s family said they were afraid he would kill himself while he was in jail.
Since September 2016, Li, who is 60 years old, has been locked up in China. John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, a human rights group that fights for the release of people detained in China, says that he had a stroke while he was in jail.
Leung, who is 78 years old, was caught spying and given a life sentence in prison in May 2023. Few specifics about the case have been given out.
Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the majority leader in the Senate, said that Mr. Biden’s “personal engagement with President Xi” was a big reason why all three men were freed.
“For the families of those Americans newly freed by the Chinese government, this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for,” he said.
David Lin, an American pastor who is 68 years old and had been jailed for 18 years on fraud charges, was freed by China in September.
