Biden releases Chinese prisoner arrested with 47,000 child sex abuse images

According to the Financial Times, three Chinese nationals were part of a prisoner swap between China and the US last month. Two of these foreign nationals were convicted of espionage while the third pleaded guilty in 2021 to child pornography charges after 47,000 files of child sexual abuse material were found on his computer, per the Dallas Morning News.

Jin Shanlin was set free in the uncommon prisoner swap and during his Texas trial, an FBI agent testified that his family was “connected to influential members of the Communist party in China."

Shanlin had been convicted and was sentenced to 97 months in prison with five years of supervised release, according to the grant of clemency issued by the Biden administration on November 22. Police found the child sex abuse material on Shanlin’s computer when they raided his home, and the material included “videos involving infants and toddlers.”

When Shanlin was released, Chinese foreign ministry representative Mao Ning said, “This once again demonstrates that China will never abandon its compatriots under any circumstances, and the motherland will always be their strong support."

The two spies Xu Yanjun and Ji Chaoqun were convicted on charges related to espionage. Ji had been sentenced to 8 years in prison and had been caught trying to gather defense technology for China's state department with Xu as a co-conspirator.

China claimed that the three were wrongfully detained and were brought back because of the "tireless efforts of the Chinese government." The grants of clemency to the three Chinese nationals have brought heightened scrutiny against the Biden administration online along with the president's recent blanket pardon of his son, Hunter Biden.