US says Americans were wrongfully detained by China

28/11/2024 6:05

        China has released U.S.
        citizens Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, the White House
        said on Wednesday, concluding years of diplomacy over Americans
        that Washington says were wrongfully detained in China.
        
        The Biden administration also on Wednesday upgraded its
        travel advisory for China, a move long sought by Beijing that
        U.S. officials have tied to the detention of American nationals
        by China.
        
        The National Security Council said in a statement the three
        men's release meant all Americans it deemed wrongfully detained
        in China had now been released.
        
        "Soon they will return and be reunited with their families
        for the first time in many years," it said.
        
        China's embassy in Washington declined to comment. Beijing
        says such cases are handled according to law.
        
        Politico, which first reported the release, said a number of
        Chinese citizens detained in the United States would also be
        released.
        
        Texas-based businessman Mark Swidan was imprisoned for 12
        years in China on drug-related charges and in 2019 was given a
        death sentence with reprieve, despite a lack of evidence.
        
        Chinese-American Kai Li was detained in China since 2016 on
        espionage charges he denied, and John Leung was sentenced to
        life in 2023 and accused of being an American spy.
        
        Senior U.S. officials had raised the detainees in talks with
        Chinese counterparts over years, but families feared their cases
        were overshadowed by other considerations in the complex and
        fraught U.S.-China relationship.
        
        A U.S. 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.
        
        Biden and Xi have worked to lower tensions in recent months
        by holding phone calls and meetings aimed at identifying areas
        they can work together while still managing national security
        risks.
        
        In September, China freed U.S. pastor David Lin, who had
        been in jail since 2006 and was also considered wrongfully
        detained. U.S. officials declined to confirm reports at the time
        that a Chinese national was released in exchange for Lin.
        
        Biden's successor, Donald Trump, has signaled a more hawkish
        approach, including proposing vast new tariffs on goods from
        China.
        
        
        
        TRAVEL ADVISORY
        
        Biden, whose four-year term ends on Jan. 20, has secured the
        release of more than 70 Americans detained overseas, in some
        cases swapping them for prisoners in the United States.
        
        In 2022, China was one of six countries the State Department
        slapped with a "D" warning to its travel advisory to indicate
        the risk of U.S. citizens being detained and used as bargaining
        chips.
        
        U.S. officials said they told Chinese officials that the
        detention of American citizens had to be addressed before the
        travel advisory would be changed.
        
        On Wednesday, that warning was removed and the U.S. advice
        to travelers to mainland China changed from Level 3, "reconsider
        travel," to Level 2, "exercise increased caution," although the
        advisory still warned that U.S. citizens in China "may be
        subjected to interrogations and detention without fair and
        transparent treatment under the law."