Two Chinese Spies, One Chinese National, Part of White House Prisoner Swap as Biden’s Presidency Nears End
President Joe Biden recently granted clemency to two Chinese spies and a Chinese national who was convicted of disseminating child pornography, as part of a prisoner swap that returned three wrongfully detained Americans from Chinese custody. The swap saw the release of Mark Swidan, Kai Li, and John Leung, who were all returned to the United States before Thanksgiving.
Yanjun Xu, one of the Chinese spies, was the first Chinese government intelligence officer to be extradited to the United States to stand trial. He was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison after being found guilty of attempting to steal technology from U.S. companies, including General Electric’s exclusive composite aircraft engine fan module.
Xu was also accused of attempting to steal U.S. military information and openly discussed his efforts to do so, according to the Department of Justice. He had also recruited and “handled” another Chinese national, Ji Chaoqun, who was stationed in Chicago and worked with Xu to collect information on people to potentially recruit to work with them.
Jin, the Chinese national who was convicted of possessing more than 47,000 images of child pornography, was also part of the prisoner swap. He was a doctoral student at Southern Methodist University in Dallas when the crime was committed in 2021.
Biden’s decision to grant clemency to the three individuals came as part of a broader effort to commute the sentences of 1,499 people and pardon 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes. The move was met with criticism from some who felt it was inappropriate to release individuals who had committed serious crimes, including espionage and child pornography.