Three American citizens who had been detained in China were released, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday.
They are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung.
Li, 70, who is from Long Island, New York, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in 2018 on espionage charges his family says are baseless. Swidan, a Texas businessman in his 40s, had been detained since 2012 and was sentenced to death with a reprieve in 2019 after being convicted on drug-related charges that a United Nations working group said had no evidential basis.
John Leung, an American in his 70s who also has permanent residency in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, was sentenced to life in prison last year after being found guilty of espionage by a court in eastern China. Leung, who was detained in 2021, had been a member of a pro-Beijing group in the United States and had been pictured with senior Chinese officials, according to Hong Kong and Chinese news outlets.
“Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years,” the State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he had worked closely over the years with Li’s son, Harrison, “to speak directly to the highest levels of the Chinese and U.S. governments to advocate for Mr. Li’s release and safe return to his 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 Wednesday. “I look forward to welcoming Mr. Li back home to New York very soon.”
For the families of all three freed Americans, “this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for,” he added.
The news was first reported by Politico.
The announcement on Wednesday follows the surprise release in September of American pastor David Lin, whom like Li and Swidan the U.S. had classified as wrongfully detained. He had been jailed in China since 2006 after being sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud.
The Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors prisoner rights in China, estimates there are about 200 American detainees, more than in any other foreign country, including Americans who are imprisoned as well as those who are prevented from leaving the country while a case is under investigation.
The State Department classifies only a handful of them as wrongfully detained. Beijing says all cases are handled in accordance with the law. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday in Beijing.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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