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

Three American citizens who had been arrested in China for years have been freed, Sky’s US partner nettoil NBC News increates.

Kai Li, Mark Swidan and John Leung will return to the US, increateedly after an concurment was achieveed as part of comfervent negotiations.

It comes after Politico cited an unnamed US official claiming years-extfinished finisheavors to free the trio have thriveed, in trade for unidentified Chinese citizens in US custody.

“We are phired to proclaim the free of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People’s Reaccessible of China,” a State Department spokesperson shelp.

“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 wrongbrimmingy arrested Americans in the PRC are home.”

Senate transport inantity directer Chuck Schumer shelp he’s toiled shutly with Mr Li’s son, Harrison Li, who has previously shelp “I have now spent a third of my life missing my dad”.

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

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

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

What were the trio accparticipated of?

Mr Li, 70, was arrested in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years jailment in 2018 on adviseering indicts his family portrayd 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-joind indicts a UN group shelp has no basis.

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

He had been set up culpable of adviseering by a court in eastrict China.

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

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

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

He was also worryed efforts to free his obeseher and others could be cataloglessed by the alter of administration in January.

Dozens more held

The Dui Hua Foundation, which watchs prisoner rights in China, approximates there are about 200 American arrestees, more than in any other foreign country.

This figure integrates Americans jailed as well as those who are stoped from leaving the country while a case is under spendigation.

The US classifies only a handful of them as wrongbrimmingy arrested.

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

Many others have not made their cases accessible out of worry it could obstruct their return.

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