Three Americans freed in prisoner swap with China

The big picture: "We are pleased to announce the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung from detention in the People's Republic of China," a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson told Axios in a statement Wednesday.

• The three Americans were on planes to the U.S. Wednesday morning, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed senior U.S. officials.
• "Thanks to this Administration's efforts and diplomacy with the PRC, all of the wrongfully detained Americans in the PRC are home," the NSC spokesperson said.

Zoom in: All three Americans had been detained in China for years, with the State Department formally designating Li and Swidan as wrongfully detained.

• Swidan was detained in 2012 on drug-related charges, Li was detained in 2016 on espionage charges, and Leung was detained in 2021, also on espionage charges.
• They were exchanged for at least one unidentified Chinese national, the Times reported.

Flashback: The swap comes on the heels of China releasing U.S. pastor David Lin in a September exchange. He had been imprisoned for 16 years.

Go deeper: China embraces hostage diplomacy

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional details.