The plight of Americans facing exit bans in China shows the enduring risks of getting caught in the country’s murky legal system.

The State Department announced the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung. A U.S. government official told NBC News the three were exchanged for Chinese detainees.

The Americans released, among others, a Chinese intelligence officer who was serving a 20-year sentence in the United States.

The three US nationals were swapped for four people, including three Chinese citizens who were returned to China.View on euronews

Three Americans who had been detained in China for years have been released in a prisoner swap between Washington and Beijing.

China has released three American prisoners who were being detained for at least three years as part of a prisoner swap that was announced by the White House. NewsNation contributor Kurt Bardella and Lauren Wright,

Americans Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung are en route back to the United States from imprisonment in China, the White House said.

China released three Americans as part of a prisoner swap between the Biden administration and the Chinese government, according to a person familiar with the matter, a rare moment of cooperation between the adversaries.

The Biden administration recently brokered a prisoner swap with China, resulting in the release of three Americans — Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung — who had been imprisoned in China for years. In exchange,

Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China arrived back in the United States late Wednesday. Their release, announced earlier by the White House, was the result of a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration.