Three Americans Detained in China Released: White House Says All Wrongfully Detained Americans in China Are Home
On November 27, 2024, the White House National Security Council announced in Washington that three American citizens held in China — Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung — had been released. A National Security Council spokesperson said: "We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People's Republic of China. 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, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home."
All three had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained. Mark Swidan, a Texas businessman, was arrested during a business trip to China in November 2012 on drug-related charges and in 2019 was sentenced to death with a reprieve; he had been held for about 12 years. Kai Li, a Chinese American businessman, was taken away on landing at Shanghai Pudong Airport in September 2016, was convicted of espionage and stealing state secrets, and was serving a 10-year sentence at Shanghai's Qingpu Prison; his family has consistently denied the charges. John Leung was detained in April 2021 and in 2023 was sentenced to life in prison on espionage charges; he was 79 at the time of his release.
According to White House officials, President Biden pressed for the men's release when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping during the APEC meetings in Peru earlier that month. On the same day the three were released, the U.S. Department of State lowered its travel advisory for China from Level 3, Reconsider Travel, to Level 2, Exercise Increased Caution.
China's foreign ministry said the following day that the United States had returned four people to China, including three Chinese citizens Beijing said had been wrongfully detained by the U.S. for political purposes and one person wanted by China who had been living in the United States; Beijing did not name the four. The U.S. side did not confirm details of any exchange arrangement.
(Source: The White House)
Source: The White House
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于美国华盛顿的美国国务院总部哈里·S·杜鲁门大楼（Harry S. Truman Building）外景及国务院标牌。美国国务院官方照片，2024 年春摄，公共领域。 / Photo: The Harry S. Truman Building, headquarters of the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., with the department sign. Official U.S. Department of State photo, spring 2024, public domain.
