3 Americans freed as part of prisoner swap with China

The White House said Wednesday it had secured the release of three Americans who had been detained in China as part of a prisoner swap with Beijing.

A spokesperson for the National Security Council confirmed in a statement that Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung had been freed.

“Soon they will return and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“Thanks to this Administration’s efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home,” the spokesperson added.

The three U.S. citizens were released in exchange for an undisclosed number of Chinese nationals who were being detained in the United States.

Li and Swidan had both been designated by the State Department as wrongfully detained. Swidan was arrested in 2012 on drug-related charges, while Li had been held since 2016 on espionage charges.

Politico first reported the prisoner swap.

Biden officials had raised the issue of wrongfully detained Americans during multiple meetings with Chinese officials over the course of the past four years, including earlier this month when President Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Peru.

The Biden White House has secured a number of Americans detained abroad through prisoner swaps throughout his administration. Some of the most notable exchanges have come with Russia. Those swaps freed Americans Brittney Griner, Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich.

Updated at 10:15 a.m. EST