Who are the chinese citizens released by the United States?

"Prisoner exchanges between China and the United States are rare, and some even think it is the first time". A Chinese journalist formerly belonging to Beijing intelligence spoke about it

by Nicola and Gabriele Iuvinale

US media reported that Beijing and the Biden administration conducted a rare prisoner exchange. China released three American citizens detained inside the country in exchange for the release by the US of an "unspecified number of Chinese prisoners". The announcement was released by the White House, according to Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung "They will soon return home and be reunited with their families for the first time in many years."

To date, no data has been officially provided on former Chinese prisoners detained in the United States and released in Beijing. The US State Department and White House have only confirmed the names of the three US citizens released by the Chinese on Wednesday. The media also learned from anonymous people briefed on the matter that the United States has also released an unknown number of imprisoned Chinese citizens.

Bloomberg said that Washington has not announced the identities of the released Chinese citizens and that US officials refused to reveal their names when pressed.

However, a Chinese journalist (formerly Chinese intelligence) reported today that “the US Bureau of Prisons database shows that Chinese citizens Xu Yanjun (transliteration) e Ji Chaoqun (transliteration) I am no longer in custody".

For the Chinese Government, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs only stated “this afternoon that, thanks to the Chinese government's unremitting efforts, three Chinese citizens wrongfully detained by the United States have safely returned to their homeland.” 

The former intelligence person added that “according to US media, Xu Yanjun was extradited to the United States after being arrested by the United States in Belgium in 2018. He was charged with four counts, including “conspiracy and attempted espionage” and “theft of trade secrets.” US authorities said at the time that Xu Yanjun was the first "Chinese government intelligence official" to be extradited to the United States to stand trial. According to information from the US Department of Justice, Ji Chaoqun was accused of unlawfully acting as an agent of a foreign government, particularly the Chinese government, and making false statements to the US military".