Three American men held for years in Chinese prisons have been released in a prisoner swap just in time for Thanksgiving.
Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung arrived back on U.S. soil Wednesday, the National Security Council said in a statement. All three men had spent years behind bars in China and were labeled wrongfully detained by the U.S. government.
Swidan had been in custody since at least 2012 and was facing a death sentence on charges of drug trafficking. Li was arrested in 2016 on espionage charges, while Leung was sentenced last year to life in prison on similar accusations.
The White House did not announce which prisoners held in the U.S. would be headed back to China. Politico, which first reported the news, only described the exchange as including “unidentified Chinese citizens in U.S. custody.”
The exchange was reportedly months in the making, and marked a welcome diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of President Biden’s term.
During his time in office, Biden has prioritized prisoner swaps for American citizens detained overseas. That has included multiple exchanges with Russia, including for WNBA star Brittney Griner and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Wednesday’s exchange was the second U.S.-China prisoner swap in just the past two months. David Lin, a 68-year-old California man, was released in September after 20 years behind bars on a contract fraud conviction.
With News Wire Services
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