China releases 3 ‘wrongfully detained’ Americans, White House says

China is releasing three Americans Wednesday who the White House says were “wrongfully detained,” Fox News has confirmed.

“We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung from detention in the People’s Republic of China,” a National Security Council spokesperson said. “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.”

Mark Swidan of Texas was 38-years old when he went to China on business looking for flooring for construction work in November 2012. He was arrested after his driver and translator were allegedly found with drugs, the Texas Tribune has reported. 

A United Nations report determined that Swidan was not in possession of drugs on his person or in his hotel room, and records show he was not in China at the time of the alleged offense. 

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The U.N. report said that the 11 other people arrested with Swidan as part of the alleged trafficking ring were unable to identify him and that the conviction was based on his visiting a factory that had once been used to manufacture methamphetamine. 

His mother Katherine Swidan told Fox News last year that she wanted President Biden to demand Mark’s release.

“I want him to say his name. I want him to be strong and make some demands. Diplomacy is important, I understand that, but this has been going on too long,” Katherine Swidan said at the time. “He is not well at all. He’s lost 100 pounds.”

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Harrison Li, the son of Kai Li, told Fox News around a year ago that his father was detained in China while traveling there for a memorial service for his own mother.

“He was not allowed to get off the plane. As soon as he landed at Shanghai Pudong Airport, agents from the Ministry of State Security whisked him away and nobody has been able to see him outside of the prison ever since,” Li said.

A website set up to raise awareness for Li said he had been held in China “since September 2016 on politically motivated charges of espionage and stealing state secrets. 

“He is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence at Shanghai’s Qingpu Prison,” it added.

Leung, who has permanent residency in Hong Kong, was also sentenced on espionage charges in 2023, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He was first detained in April 2021. A friend of Leung told the newspaper that he was involved in charity work supporting low-income elderly people and students in Jiangsu province and has organized tours between the U.S. and China for musicians.  

The releases come after U.S. pastor David Lin was freed by China in September following nearly 20 years of what the State Department deemed a wrongful detainment.

“I am overjoyed that Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung have been released and are returning to their families. I could not be happier for Mark’s mother Katherine Swidan, who from her home in Luling, Texas, has spent 12 years waging an unremitting battle to ensure Mark’s release and make today a reality,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Wednesday. 

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“President Biden, Secretary of State Blinken, Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Carstens, Ambassador Burns, and their teams have for years worked tirelessly to secure this achievement, and I am deeply grateful for all their efforts,” Cruz added. “Negotiations aimed at securing the release of unjustly held Americans are among the most difficult and wrenching tasks that our diplomats face, and they have shown unceasing dedication culminating in today’s release. This joyous news would not have occurred, and these families would not have been reunited, without their work and commitment.”

Fox News’ Kate Sprague, Andrew Mark Miller and Kristine Parks contributed to this report.