Lee, 70, of Long Island, New York, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018 on espionage charges, which his family said were baseless. Swedan, a Texas businessman in his 40s, has been detained since 2012 and was given a suspended death sentence in 2019 on drug-related charges that a U.N. working group said did not Evidence basis.
John Leung, an American in his 70s with permanent residency in China HongkongLast year, a court in eastern China sentenced him to life in prison on espionage charges. Leung, who was detained in 2021, is a member of a pro-Beijing group in the United States and has been photographed with senior Chinese officials, according to Hong Kong and Chinese news media.
“They will soon return and be reunited with their families for the first time in years,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
Three Americans released from China are now safely in U.S. custody and flown back to the U.S., according to senior U.S. officials
The White House has not yet revealed who, if anyone, will be released in exchange for U.S. citizenship.
The senior official and another U.S. official said the release had been months in the making.
senate majority leader Chuck SchumerThe New York Democrat said he has worked closely with Mr. Li’s son, Harrison Li, for years “to speak directly with the highest levels of the Chinese and U.S. governments to advocate for Mr. Li’s release and safe return to his family in Huntington,” New York .
“Even when it felt hopeless, we never stopped believing that one day Mr. Lee would come home,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “I look forward to welcoming Mr. Lee back home to New York soon.”
For the families of all three freed Americans, “there is much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving,” he added.
The message is First reported by Politico.
Wednesday’s announcement was made in September surprise release American pastor David Lin joins Lee and Svedan in being wrongfully detained by the United States. He was sentenced to life in prison for contract fraud and has been imprisoned in China since 2006.
The Dui Hua Foundation, which monitors prisoner rights in China, estimates there are about 200 U.S. detainees, more than in any other country, and includes Americans incarcerated and those blocked from leaving the country while their cases are investigated.
The State Department classified only a handful of them as wrongfully detained. Beijing says all cases are handled in accordance with the law. China’s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Wednesday.
Biden administration officials have raised the issue of Americans detained in China in several meetings with their Chinese counterparts, including one with Chinese officials. President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Peru earlier this month.
But their families are frustrated by the slow progress, especially as a massive prisoner exchange is underway. Negotiating with Russia and other countries. In September, Swedan’s mother, Katherine Swedan, and relatives including Harrison Lee appeared before the U.S. Congressional and Executive Branch Commission on China to urge the Biden administration to take more action.
“I have missed my father for a third of my life,” Lee told the hearing. “Every day I wake up and I shudder to think of him and 11 other people crammed into a small cell.”
Li said that in the past eight years, his father suffered a stroke, lost a tooth and was “basically locked in a cell 24/7” for more than three years due to China’s lockdown. ‘Zero Covid’ pandemic restrictions. He also expressed concern that a change in government in January could slow efforts to free his father and others.
Other families present at the hearing who are still awaiting the return of relatives detained in China include nelson wells jr. and Dawn Hunter. Many do not disclose their cases for fear it will hinder the return of their loved ones.
