US, China swap prisoners; FBI informant among 3 Americans freed for unidentified Chinese nationals

Three Americans detained in China were released under a surprise prisoner swap deal between Beijing and Washington. The deal came less than two months before President-elect Donald Trump assumed the Oval Office In a major turn of events, the United States and China conducted a prisoner swap deal in which three Americans detained in the Asian nation for years were released. “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 US National Security Council spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday. In a separate statement on Wednesday, Kai Li’s son, Harrison Li, said his family “enthusiastically welcomes the news that Kai has been released from captivity after just over 3,000 days of wrongful detention.” “We express our deepest gratitude to the many agencies, individuals, and non-governmental organizations that made this day possible,” Harrison Li wrote, expressing particular gratitude to Biden, the National Security Council and the State Department. He went on to thank US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns for visiting his father three times and the US Consulate in Shanghai for “ensuring Kai’s physical and mental well-being throughout his detention.” “We urge President Joe Biden to use the remaining days in his administration to bring home the remaining Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained abroad,” Li’s son furthered.