A trio of college basketball stars from UCLA who were arrested in China for property theft while the team visited the country for an international tournament have been released and are currently traveling to the United States, reports Fox News.
The three players, LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill, and Cody Riley were arrested by Chinese authorities for reportedly stealing sunglasses from an upscale store near the team’s hotel, and have been detained by police for more than a week.
The release comes just days after President Trump personally appealed to Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release the athletes. US authorities confirmed on Tuesday that the issue “has been resolved to the satisfaction of the Chinese authorities,” thanking President Trump for resolving “the incident with authorities in Hangzhou, China.”
“I had a great conversation with President Xi,” Trump told journalists aboard Air Force One as he returned from his two-week long trip to Asia. “He was terrific, and they’re working on it right now, and hopefully everything is going to work out.”
“What they did was unfortunate,” he added. “You know, you’re talking about very long prison sentences. They do not play games.”