On Wednesday, a State Department official announced the release of three American nationals who had been held in China.
They are John Leung, Kai Li, and Mark Swidan.
The 70-year-old Long Island, New York native Li was arrested in 2016 and given a 10-year term in 2018 on espionage allegations that his family claims are unfounded. Swidan, a 40-year-old Texas businessman who had been in custody since 2012, was found guilty of drug-related accusations that a United Nations working group deemed lacked evidence, and in 2019 he was given a death sentence with a reprieve.
Last year, a court in eastern China found John Leung, a 70-year-old American with permanent citizenship in Hong Kong, China, guilty of espionage and sentenced him to life in jail. Hong Kong and Chinese news agencies reported that Leung, who was arrested in 2021, had been photographed with top Chinese officials and had been a part of a pro-Beijing group in the United States.
In a statement, the State Department spokesperson stated, “They will soon return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.”
The three Americans freed from China are safely in American custody and aboard planes returning to the United States, a senior U.S. official said.
Who, if anyone, was being released in return for the American citizens has not been disclosed by the White House.
The publication had been planned for months, according to the senior official and another U.S. official.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, stated that he has worked closely with Li’s son, Harrison Li, throughout the years to bring the issue of Mr. Li’s release and safe return to his family in Huntington, New York, to the attention of the highest levels of the Chinese and American governments.
We never gave up hope that Mr. Li would return home someday, even when it seemed hopeless, he said in a statement on Wednesday. I’m excited for Mr. Li to return to New York very soon.
“There is so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving for the families of all three freed Americans,” he continued.
Politico was the first to report the news.
Wednesday’s announcement comes after American pastor David Lin, who, like Li and Swidan, was unexpectedly released in September after being unlawfully arrested by the United States. He has been imprisoned in China since 2006 after being found guilty of contract fraud and given a life sentence.
There are more American prisoners than in any other foreign nation, according to the Dui Hua Foundation, which keeps an eye on prisoner rights in China. This number includes both Americans who are imprisoned and those who are barred from leaving the country while an inquiry is underway.
Only a small number are classified as wrongfully held by the State Department. Beijing claims that the law is followed in the handling of every case. A request for response late Wednesday in Beijing was not immediately answered by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Earlier this month, during a meeting between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru, Biden administration officials brought up the issue of Americans being held in China.
However, the sluggish progress had angered their relatives, especially when significant prisoner exchanges were conducted with Russia and other nations. Harrison Li, Katherine Swidan, and Swidan’s mother were among the family members that testified before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China in September to urge the Biden administration to take further action.
During the hearing, Li stated, “I have now missed my dad for a third of my life.” The idea of him and up to eleven other individuals cramped into a small cell makes me tremble every morning when I wake up.
According to Li, his father had a stroke, lost a tooth, and was virtually confined to his cell all day and night for more than three years because of China’s zero-szero-Covid pandemic restrictions during the previous eight years. He also voiced worries that the January government shift may hinder attempts to free his father and others.
Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Hunt are among the other families that attended the hearing and are still awaiting the return of relatives who are being held in China. Many others have kept their cases private out of concern that it could prevent their loved ones from returning.
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