Three American citizens who had been detained in China were released, a State Department spokesperson said Wednesday. Li, 70, who is from Long Island, New York, was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in 2018 on espionage charges his family says are baseless. The announcement on Wednesday follows the surprise release in September of American pastor David Lin, whom like Li and Swidan the U.S. had classified as wrongfully detained. He had been jailed in China since 2006 after being sentenced to life in prison on charges of contract fraud. Other families who appeared at the hearing are still waiting for the return of loved ones detained in China, including Nelson Wells Jr. and Dawn Hunt.

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Persons: Mark Swidan, Kai Li, John Leung, Li, Leung, Chuck Schumer, Li’s, Harrison Li, “, ”, David Lin, Biden, Joe Biden, Xi Jinping, Swidan’s, Katherine Swidan, ” Li, Nelson Wells Jr, Dawn Hunt Organizations: State Department, United, Politico, ., Hua Foundation, Chinese Foreign Ministry, Economic Cooperation, Congressional, Commission Locations: China, Long Island , New York, Texas, United Nations, American, Hong Kong, Beijing, United States, U.S, Huntington , New York, New York, Asia, Peru, Russia