Daniel Hsu, an American barred from leaving China, returned to US before Biden-Xi summit
- Hsu’s release after being under an exit ban for more than four years coincided with the US deportation of seven Chinese nationals convicted of crimes
- They include an ex-Bank of China branch head, a duo caught photographing a defence installation, and two women who had tried to gain access to Mar-a-Lago
An American who had been blocked for years from leaving China has returned to the United States, the US government told Reuters, his release coming just hours before the two countries’ leaders met this week.
Daniel Hsu’s return also coincided with the United States’ deportation of seven Chinese nationals convicted of crimes, including at least one who was sought by Beijing to face fraud charges. A US government official denied the individuals were part of an exchange.
The US official, authorised to speak on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that Hsu – who had never been convicted of a crime in China and had been under an exit ban for more than four years – had been allowed by Chinese authorities to leave the country last weekend.
Hsu, a Chinese-American, was one of an undisclosed number of US citizens the United States says China is holding unlawfully under “coercive exit bans”.