On Wednesday, November 27th, China and the United States confirmed news of their second prisoner exchange this year. Beijing released three American citizens who had been wrongfully detained for several years, while the Biden administration repatriated two spies who had been stealing intelligence for the Chinese Communist Party.
US officials declined to disclose the identities of the prisoners sent back to China or reveal if any other measures were taken as part of the exchange.
According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons database, Yanjun Xu, a Chinese intelligence officer sentenced to 20 years in a US prison, and Chaoqun Ji, a Chinese student who conspired with Xu to steal General Electric’s aviation secrets, are no longer in custody. Ji was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
This exchange is part of a series of complex agreements reached by the Biden administration to bring back American citizens from hostile countries.
According to an official statement from the US State Department on Wednesday, the three released Americans are Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung. Swidan and Li were deemed to have been wrongfully detained by the Chinese authorities. Leung, a pro-Beijing figure in Sino-US cultural and trade relations, was sentenced to life imprisonment for espionage by Chinese authorities in 2023.
33-year-old Chaoqun Ji, a former student at the Illinois Institute of Technology, was found guilty by a jury in Chicago in 2022 for collecting information on American scientists and engineers involved in aerospace technology, artificial intelligence, and even aircraft carriers.
Ji had enlisted in the US Army Reserve through the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program in 2016.
Records indicate that Ji had been detained for approximately four and a half years before being sentenced, with his release and deportation back to China scheduled for July 2025. As of Wednesday, he is no longer in custody according to online prison records.
The US Attorney’s office submitted a motion for Ji’s release on Wednesday, and he has been released by US marshals, though details remain confidential.
Sources familiar with the situation informed the “Forum” that Ji’s release was part of a diplomatic agreement announced on Wednesday with Beijing.
In November 2021, Yanjun Xu was convicted in a federal court in Cincinnati for stealing commercial secrets from military contractor General Electric Aviation Group and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was originally scheduled for release in 2035. However, federal prison records show he is also no longer in custody as of Wednesday morning.
Xu, a deputy director in the Sixth Bureau of the Jiangsu State Security Department (MSS), was apprehended by US agents in Belgium and extradited to the US for trial. This marked the first instance of an active Chinese intelligence officer being extradited to the US for trial.
A 2019 special report by the “Forum” on the case highlighted a growing concern within the US government about China’s extensive and complex mission to have foreign spies and operatives steal creativity and technology from American enterprises and institutions.
China remains one of the countries with the highest number of detained Americans abroad, and so far, only a small portion of Americans detained by Chinese authorities on charges related to drugs and business disputes have been released. It remains unclear if China will allow other individuals who were prevented from leaving China due to so-called exit bans to return to the US.
US officials have reiterated to Chinese officials on multiple occasions the issue of Americans being wrongfully detained. President Biden discussed this issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Lima, Peru in early November.
In recent months, US Secretary of State Blinken and National Security Advisor Sullivan have raised the issue of releasing Americans wrongfully detained by China in multiple meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.