Kai Li, of Huntington, among 3 Americans freed from Chinese custody
Harrison Li holds a photo of his father, Kai Li, as he poses for a photo in January 2024 in Palo Alto, Calif. Credit: AP/Jeff Chiu
A Huntington man imprisoned in China for eight years will return home along with two other Americans after the Biden administration coordinated their release, federal officials announced Wednesday.
Kai Li, who was detained in Shanghai in September 2016 and later convicted of espionage — charges that his family and the U.S. government have labeled as fabricated — was set to land in the United States on Wednesday evening.
Mark Swidan and John Leung, who have also been designated by the U.S. government as wrongfully detained, were also released, officials announced.
Kai Li will soon reunite with his son Harrison Li, who has led the family’s effort to fight for his freedom.
Harrison Li could not be reached for comment.
"This is a very, very sweet Thanksgiving," said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).
Schumer told Newsday that Kai Li was flying into San Antonio, Texas, as is protocol for prisoners returning to the United States, and he will be medically evaluated and debriefed. From there, he can return to New York.
In September 2016, Kai Li traveled to Shanghai, where he was born, to attend a memorial commemorating the anniversary of his mother’s death, according to family accounts and federal officials.
Agents from China’s Ministry of State Security whisked him off the plane and later charged him with espionage and stealing state secrets. He was held in secret detention and in July 2018 was convicted of espionage, according to Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), and began to serve a 10-year prison sentence at Shanghai’s Qingpu Prison.
Schumer said he advocated directly to China's President Xi Jinping for Kai Li’s release during a bipartisan trip to China last year.
He said the challenge in freeing Kai Li was "because the Chinese are so difficult and so opaque."
According to The Associated Press, a U.S. official said the Biden administration had repeatedly raised the cases of the imprisoned Americans in multiple meetings with China. The most recent, according to the AP, happened early this month at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.
Swidan, 49, a Texas businessman, was arrested by Chinese authorities in November 2012 on drug-related charges, the AP said. Leung, a 79-year-old American citizen with permanent residency in Hong Kong, was detained in 2021, charged with espionage and sentenced last year to life in prison after an opaque trial, the AP said.
The White House did not say whom it was freeing in exchange for the U.S. citizens, and the Chinese Embassy in Washington declined to comment, according to the AP.
Schumer said he met with Harrison Li about 10 times over the years and credited the son for his advocacy on behalf of his father. He described Harrison Li as "always polite and never angry."
"His son never gave up," he said. "It was inspiring to see him."
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Wednesday there are no longer any wrongfully detained Americans in China.
She thanked Harrison Li and his family "for their tenacious advocacy for Kai over the last several years."
LaLota brought Harrison Li as his guest to the State of the Union address in March. In a letter to President Joe Biden in 2023, LaLota described how Kai Li immigrated to the United States in 1989 "in search of a better life."
Kai Li studied at Eastern Michigan University and moved to New York to establish an export business, according to the congressman.
Harrison Li shared his father's story through the "Bring Our Families Home" campaign, which includes families of Americans held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.
In a 2023 video, Harrison Li described the pain of living a quarter of his life without his father. He spoke about the "strength and resilience" his father had displayed.
"He knows that people are fighting for him," he said. "He seems to have never lost the hope."
With AP
Joe Werkmeister covers the towns of Southampton, East Hampton and Shelter Island. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University and previously worked as the editor of two North Fork community newspapers.
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