SHANGHAI—Three UCLA basketball players detained for a week in China were set to fly back home late Tuesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had requested assistance on their behalf from his counterpart Xi Jinping.UCLA freshmen LiAngelo Ball, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley were seen late Tuesday at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport checking into a Delta flight bound for Los Angeles, airline staff said. Their departure came after a week of tension, with the players detained by police in the eastern city Hangzhou as suspects in an investigation of suspected shoplifting from a Louis Vuitton boutique.
Ending his trip to Asia on Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that in recent days he asked the Chinese president for help. Mr. Trump called the incident “unfortunate” but said he had had “a great conversation” about the players with China’s leader. “President Xi has been terrific on that subject,” he said.
The shoplifting investigation took on outsize importance because the players are high-profile, especially Mr. Ball who comes from a prominent sports family with a brother in the NBA and a media-hungry father, and news of their troubles broke hours before Mr. Xi welcomed Mr. Trump on his first presidential visit to China.........
Ending his trip to Asia on Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that in recent days he asked the Chinese president for help. Mr. Trump called the incident “unfortunate” but said he had had “a great conversation” about the players with China’s leader. “President Xi has been terrific on that subject,” he said.
The shoplifting investigation took on outsize importance because the players are high-profile, especially Mr. Ball who comes from a prominent sports family with a brother in the NBA and a media-hungry father, and news of their troubles broke hours before Mr. Xi welcomed Mr. Trump on his first presidential visit to China.........