The mother of one of three American citizens who will return to the country after being traded for unidentified Chinese citizens under custody is ecstatic after learning about the deal, which will spare Mark Swidan from being executed in the Asian country.
"I'm just elated and excited, I can't even believe it," Swidan's mother told POLITICO on Wednesday after being notified of the development by administration officials. Her son, a Texas native, was arrested in 2012 and accused of manufacturing and trafficking narcotics.
Dui Hua Foundation, his employer at the time, always maintained there was no evidence to sustain the claim. However, a Guangdong province court sentenced him to death with a two-year reprieve in January 2020 after a lengthy trial, leading the UN to declare him a victim of "arbitrary detention." The court upheld the sentence last year.
The other two Americans detained are Kai Li and John Leung. The release of all three is the result of years of intensive talks between the White House, the State Department, and their Chinese counterparts.
"President Biden brought this up when he met with President Xi in Peru two weeks ago and Jake Sullivan brought this up when he was in Beijing [in September] and Secretary Blinken also pushed for this really hard in September at UNGA with [Chinese Foreign Minister] Wang Yi," a senior administration official familiar with the deal told the outlet.
The State Department's Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs has led an effort to repatriate more than 70 Americans from countries such as Russia, Venezuela and Iran over the past four years.
The three men are expected to arrive in the U.S. on Wednesday and will likely be transferred to the Brooke Army Medical Center outside of San Antonio. The facility can perform psychological evaluations for former hostages that will help them prepare to reintegrate into society.
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