(NewsNation) — Three Americans held in China were released this week as part of a prisoner swap, just in time for the holidays.
Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung landed on a military base Wednesday night in San Antonio, Texas. All of them had been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained by China. Officials and humanitarian aid groups said the three Americans were arrested on arbitrary and unlawful charges.
Swidan was arrested on drug charges while on a business trip in Beijing in 2012. He had been sentenced to death. Kai Li and Leung were both imprisoned for espionage charges.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday morning that he spoke to all of the released Americans.
“I’m really happy they’re home,” Biden said during a stop in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
Mark Swidan’s mom posted a picture of her son with the U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, and Roger Carstens, the special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, on X, and thanked them both.
“So grateful!” she wrote. “My son, American Mark Swidan came off the plane to me last night after 12 years wrongfully detained in China.”
Harrison Li, Kai Li’s son, said he was thrilled that his father was on his way home along with Swidan and Leung.
“Thank you, @POTUS, and everyone that made this day possible at long last,” Harrison Li wrote. “Please keep bringing them home.”
China’s foreign ministry said the U.S. returned four people, including at least three Chinese citizens held for “political purposes.”
Mel Gibson, an actor who has an been an advocate for Swidan’s release, posted a video thanking a number of people, including NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas for continuing to shed light on the issue.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.