China released 3 Americans who had been in prison for years; Beijing announced that the USA extradited 4 people to China

WASHINGTON — Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released and returned to the United States, the White House said Wednesday, announcing a rare diplomatic deal with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration.

The Chinese government also announced Thursday that it had extradited four people to China, including at least three Chinese citizens who the United States said were being held for “political purposes” and a resident wanted by Beijing for crimes. United States. Four of them could not be identified.

The three Americans released by Beijing were Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom the U.S. government determined had been wrongfully detained by China. Swidan was facing the death penalty on drug charges, while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges.

“They will return soon and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years,” the White House said in a statement.

The release comes just two months after China released California Christian pastor David Lin, who spent nearly 20 years behind bars after being convicted of contract fraud.

US-China relations have been strained for years over major disagreements between the world’s two largest economies over trade, human rights, the production of fentanyl precursors, security issues including espionage and hacking, and China’s aggression against Taiwan and its smaller neighbors in southern China. in case. The sea and Beijing’s support for Russia’s military-industrial sector.

The release of Americans deemed unjustly detained in China is a central agenda item in every meeting between the United States and China, and Wednesday’s development comes as Beijing is trying to contact the outgoing Democratic administration before Republican President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House. It shows that you are willing. home in January.

Trump took important steps against China in the fields of trade and diplomacy in his first term. He vowed to continue these policies into his second term, sparking unease among many who fear an all-out trade war would greatly impact the international economy and encourage potential military action by China against Taiwan.

Nevertheless, the two countries maintained a dialogue that included a partial restoration of military-to-military contacts. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping met this month to discuss potential improvements.

In a separate but related move, the State Department on Wednesday “downgraded” its travel warning for China to level two and advised U.S. citizens to “exercise greater caution” than the norm when traveling to the mainland. The warning was previously at “level three,” telling Americans that they should “reconsider” travel to China, in part because of the “risk of unfair detention” of Americans.

The new warning removes those statements, but warns that the Chinese government “arbitrarily enforces domestic laws, including exit bans on U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries, without a fair and transparent process under the law.”

The Biden administration has raised the cases of detained Americans in numerous meetings with China over the past few years; That includes this month, when Biden spoke to Xi on during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

Politico was first to report the release of men it said were part of a prisoner swap with the United States. The White House did not immediately confirm that any Chinese citizens detained in the United States had been returned home.

However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning announced in Beijing on Thursday that “three Chinese citizens returned safely to the homeland.”

“China has always resolutely opposed the United States’ oppression and persecution of Chinese citizens for political purposes, and we will continue to take necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens,” he said.

He added that “a fourth person, a fugitive who fled to the United States years ago, was also sent back to China.”

The nationality of the fourth person was not determined. Mao said: “This shows that there will be no safe haven for criminals forever. The Chinese government will continue our efforts to repatriate fugitives and take back criminals and illegal goods until every fugitive is held accountable.”

Senators from both US political parties praised the Americans’ release. Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said he was “overjoyed” (Swidan’s mother lives in Texas) and said senior Biden administration officials “worked tirelessly to ensure this success.”

Li, a Chinese immigrant who started an export business in the United States and lived in New York, was detained after flying to Shanghai in September 2016. He was placed under surveillance, interrogated without a lawyer, and accused of giving state secrets to the FBI. The UN working group called his 10-year prison sentence arbitrary and his family said the charges were politically motivated.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said he had been working for years to secure Li’s release, welcomed the news.

“Even when it felt like there was no hope, we never stopped believing that Mr. Li would one day come home,” Schumer said in a statement.

Leung was sentenced to life imprisonment last year on espionage charges. He was detained in 2021 by the local bureau of China’s counterintelligence agency in the southeastern city of Suzhou, after China closed its borders and imposed strict domestic travel restrictions and social controls to combat the spread of Covid-19.

Following Leung’s sentencing, the United States recommended that Americans reconsider traveling to China — albeit without citing specific cases — due to arbitrary law enforcement, exit bans, and the risk of unfair detention.

Swidan had been imprisoned on drug charges for the past 12 years and was thought to have been wrongfully detained by the State Department along with Li and Leung.