China releases three US citizens after years of diplomacy

China has released US 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 National Security Council said in a statement the three men's release meant all Americans it deemed wrongfully detained in China had now been freed.

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.

Kai Li's son, Harrison Li, said in a statement that his father was expected to land in the US at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas late on Wednesday, and thanked Biden administration officials for working on the release.

"They delivered just in time for the holidays," he said, referring to Thanksgiving on Thursday.

Li had been detained in China since 2016 on espionage charges he denied.

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. 

John Leung was sentenced to life in 2023 and accused of being an American spy.

Senior US 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 US-China relationship.

Biden and Xi have worked to lower tensions in recent months by holding phone calls and meetings aimed at identifying areas they can work on together while still managing national security risks.

Biden, whose four-year term ends on January 20, has secured the release of more than 70 Americans detained overseas, in some cases swapping them for prisoners in the United States.