US secures release of 3 Americans in prisoner swap with China

Three Americans who had been detained in China for years have been released from custody.

Three Americans who had been detained in China for years have been released in a prisoner swap between Washington and Beijing. “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 US National Security Council spokesperson confirmed to CNN. “Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years.” The Americans were released in exchange for unidentified Chinese nationals and are now in US custody, according to US official. Politico first reported the release of the Americans. “Thanks to this Administration’s efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home,” the spokesperson said Wednesday. Li and Swidan had been designated as wrongfully detained by the US State Department. Swidan was detained in 2012 on drug-related charges. He has spent more than a decade detained in what his mother describes as a “holding tank,” where she says he has undergone physical and psychological torture and has attempted suicide. He was sentenced to death in 2019.