A senior U.S. official announced Wednesday that the Biden administration and China had reached an agreement to exchange prisoners, ensuring the release of three Americans whom the U.S. government has long claimed Beijing unlawfully jailed.
The White House said that Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung were returning to the US, culminating months of diplomatic pressure on China and ensuring a victory for the Biden administration in its final months in office.
In a statement, the White House said, “They will soon return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.” It claimed that no other Americans are being unjustly held in China. The senior U.S. official discussed delicate diplomacy while speaking on condition of anonymity.
For months, the three Americans have been the subject of high-level talks, most recently a direct exchange between Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden during a conference in Peru last month. In recent months, national security advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken also put pressure on their Chinese colleagues.
In November 2012, Chinese officials arrested 49-year-old Texas businessman Swidan on drug-related accusations.
He was given the death penalty in 2019 after a trial that lasted more than five years and was tainted by protracted delays and dubious evidence.
A two-year respite was granted by a Chinese court in 2020, thereby delaying the sentence but keeping Swidan in limbo. Citing serious issues with due process, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention ruled him a wrongful detainee the same year.
Li, a retired businessman and naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested in 2016 as he arrived at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai. He was charged with espionage by Chinese officials, and following a covert trial in 2018, he received a 10-year prison sentence.
In light of deteriorating U.S.-China ties, proponents have frequently drawn attention to the lack of transparency in his case and described it as politically motivated.
After an unclear trial, Leung, a 79-year-old American citizen who has permanent residency in Hong Kong, was arrested in 2021, accused of espionage, and given a life sentence last year.
Late last year, China’s Ministry of State Security detailed the accusations against Leung in a social media post, giving his case a rare public turn. According to the article, Leung has been spying on Chinese diplomats and officials visiting the US for decades after being hired by American intelligence services in 1989.
Foreign diplomats and observers are prohibited from attending China’s secret espionage and national security trials. After being charged, defendants have little chance of being acquitted because the nation’s judicial system has a conviction rate of above 99 percent.
In exchange for the American citizens, the White House did not specify who it was releasing. Washington’s Chinese Embassy opted not to comment. China frequently withholds the names of its citizens who are involved in these swaps.
It is uncommon for the United States and China to exchange prisoners. Xiaolei Wu, a Chinese student convicted in the United States of threatening pro-democracy campaigners, was released in September, the same month that American pastor David Lin was released from nearly two decades of Chinese captivity. Neither government verified The releases to be a part of a trade.
Charles E. Schumer, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate from New York, stated on Wednesday that he has been urging Chinese and American officials to free Li, whose family resides in Huntington, New York, for years.
“Even when it seemed hopeless, we never lost hope that Mr. Li would return home someday,” Schumer said in a statement.
