Three Americans freed in prisoner swap after spending years imprisoned in China

Three American citizens who had been detained in China for years have been released, Sky’s US partner network NBC News reports.

Kai Li, Mark Swidan and John Leung will return to the US, reportedly after an agreement was reached as part of sensitive negotiations.

It comes after Politico cited an unnamed US official claiming years-long attempts to free the trio have succeeded, in exchange for unidentified Chinese citizens in US custody.

“We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People’s Republic of China,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.

“Thanks to this administration’s efforts and diplomacy with the PRC [People’s Republic of China], all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home.”

Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said he’s worked closely with Mr Li’s son, Harrison Li, who has previously said “I have now spent a third of my life missing my dad”.

“Even when it felt like there was no hope, we never stopped believing that one day Mr Li would return home,” Mr Schumer said in a statement on Wednesday.

For the families of all three freed Americans, “this Thanksgiving there is so much to be thankful for”, he added.

It comes after the surprise release of US pastor David Lin in September, after he had been in jail in China since 2006.

What were the trio accused of?

Mr Li, 70, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in 2018 on espionage charges his family described as baseless.

Texas businessman Mr Swidan, in his 40s, had been held since 2012 and sentenced to death with a reprieve in 2019 on drug-related charges a UN group said has no basis.

Mr Leung, an American in his 70s who also has permanent residency in the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, was arrested in 2021 and sentenced to life in prison last year.

He had been found guilty of espionage by a court in eastern China.

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In September, Mr Swidan’s mother, Katherine Swidan, and Harrison Li were among the relatives who appeared before the congressional executive commission on China to press the US government to do more.

“Every day, I wake up and shudder at the thought of him crammed into a tiny cell with as many as 11 other people,” Harrison said at the hearing.

He added in the last eight years his father had suffered a stroke, lost a tooth and spent more than three years “essentially locked in his cell 24/7” due to China’s “zero-Covid” restrictions.

He was also concerned efforts to release his father and others could be slowed by the change of administration in January.

Dozens more held

The Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors prisoner rights in China, estimates there are about 200 American detainees, more than in any other foreign country.

This figure includes Americans imprisoned as well as those who are prevented from leaving the country while a case is under investigation.

The US classifies only a handful of them as wrongfully detained.

Other families are still waiting for the return of relatives detained in China, including Nelson Wells Jr and Dawn Hunt.

Many others have not made their cases public out of fear it could obstruct their return.