Chinese American seismologist Youlin Chen has been held in China since state security agents detained him at Beijing Capital International Airport on Nov. 5, 2024. His wife says she has had no word from him and hopes Trump will seek his release at this week's summit with Xi.
Chen was charged with espionage. The U.S. State Department lists him among two American scholars it says China is wrongfully detaining.
Rong told the Associated Press that Trump spoke to Xi about Chen during a visit to Beijing in May and hopes he will do so again. She says Chen spent his first seven months in solitary confinement and has diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Family adviser Kieran Ramsey says Chen was interrogated 100 times in his first year without legal counsel and argues China is using people like him as leverage in broader U.S.-China negotiations.
