US secures release of three American citizens 'wrongly detained' in China

The White House national security council named the three as Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung and said all the US citizens it deemed to have been wrongly detained in China were now home.

In Short

• US secures release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung
• Chinese citizens detained in US also to be released in return
• Joe Biden pressed for their return when he met Xi Jinping in Peru

The US has brokered the release of three Americans it said had been wrongfully detained in China for many years, the White House said in a statement on Wednesday.

The White House national security council named the three as Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung and said all the US citizens it deemed to have been wrongly detained in China were now home. China says such cases are handled according to law.

Politico said the deal had taken years to finalise and that in return, a number of Chinese citizens detained in the US would also be released.

A US official said President Joe Biden had pressed for the return of the three when he met Chinese President Xi Jinping this month at a regional summit in Peru.

In September, China freed US pastor David Lin, who had been in jail since 2006.