Three Americans have been freed from prisons in China

NPR

The Biden administration says the prisoners were all wrongfully held and that they are being reunited with their families for the first time in many years. They appear to be part of a prisoner swap.

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Three Americans have been freed from prisons in China. The Biden administration says they were all wrongfully held and that they are being reunited with their families for the first time in many years. They appear to be part of a prisoner swap, though details about that remain murky, as NPR’s Michele Kelemen reports.

MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: Biden administration officials say they’ve been working on this deal for months. President Biden raised the issue of jailed Americans when he met recently with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Peru. Now U.S. officials say the diplomacy has paid off with the release of three Americans. Businessman Mark Swidan was held the longest. He was arrested in 2012 and accused of drug-related offenses. Jason Poblete represents the family.

JASON POBLETE: After 12 years, Katherine – Mark’s mom – and the entire Swidan family are extremely grateful that Mark will be back with them in Texas. Right now, the family is asking for privacy, but they will have more to say in the near future.

KELEMEN: Chinese American Kai Li is also part of the deal. He’s been held since 2016 on espionage charges. The third person is John Leung, an elderly American who had residency in Hong Kong. He was sentenced last year to life in prison on spying charges.

JEFF MERKLEY: I am absolutely thrilled to see these three individuals on a plane headed back to the United States.

KELEMEN: Senator Jeff Merkley is a co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

MERKLEY: And it’s just a tactic China has continuously employed, often in very unjust ways, and I’m – these folks have been held a long time. I’m – it’s great to have them back.

KELEMEN: The Oregon Democrat says the administration has not informed his committee about what China is getting in return.

MERKLEY: These exchanges are exchanges. That is – almost always, there is a quid pro quo. We don’t know who has been released or what other measures the United States has taken. I will say that I really applaud the Biden administration for putting a lot of diplomatic muscle into this effort at the close of their administration to get these individuals released.

KELEMEN: China has not commented, but Senator Merkley thinks Beijing may have wanted a deal done now before President-elect Trump returns to the White House and new issues arise. The State Department did change one thing that China wanted – a travel advisory once warned Americans to reconsider going to China because of the risk of being detained as bargaining chips. Now, the State Department says there are no Americans being unjustly held in China, though it still tells Americans to exercise caution.

Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department.