China released three Americans on Wednesday in a prisoner swap between Washington and Beijing, Politico reported.
“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 National Security Council spokesman told Axios in a statement.
The release of Swidan, Li, and Leung comes after years of comprehensive discussions between Biden administration officials and their Chinese counterparts.
“President Biden brought this up when he met with President Xi in Peru two weeks ago and Jake Sullivan brought this up when he was in Beijing [in September] and Secretary Blinken also pushed for this really hard in September at UNGA with [Chinese Foreign Minister] Wang Yi,” a senior administration official said.
Swidan was imprisoned in 2012 on drug-related offenses, Li was detained in 2016 on espionage charges, and Leung was jailed in 2021, also on espionage charges.
The Biden administration traded the three American citizens for at least one unidentified Chinese citizen in U.S. custody.
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