{"id":1703,"date":"2026-07-14T16:43:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:43:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1703"},"modified":"2026-07-14T16:43:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T16:43:01","slug":"us-scientist-held-in-china-for-nearly-2-years-family-reveals-in-a-case-trump-has-raised-with-xi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1703","title":{"rendered":"US scientist held in China for nearly 2 years, family reveals, in a case Trump has raised with Xi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A China-born American seismologist has been detained in China without trial for nearly two years, an advocacy group advising the family said Tuesday, a revelation that came a couple of months before Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to visit the U.S<\/span>.<\/p>\n

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The relatives of Youlin Chen of Boston broke their silence this week, apparently after they saw no sign from the Chinese government that it was planning to release Chen \u2014 even after President Donald Trump brought up the case when meeting Xi in Beijing<\/span> in May, according to Global Reach, a Washington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing home Americans wrongly detained abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not been able to speak with my husband for over 600 days and am concerned for his health and well-being,\u201d Yufang Rong, Chen\u2019s wife, said in a statement released by Global Reach, which has been advising the family since Chen\u2019s detention.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump has taken a personal interest in freeing Youlin. Since taking office, he has already freed 106 people and I know that he and his team will bring Youlin home to us,\u201d Rong said.<\/p>\n

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Chen is the only U.S. citizen determined by the State Department to be wrongfully detained in China, Global Reach said. The designation means those cases are of high priority to the U.S. government and can lead to intense diplomatic efforts to secure releases. The Biden administration in 2024 secured the release of three wrongfully detained Americans<\/span> from China.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Trump has been clear that he wants every American detained abroad to return home, and he has reunited over 100 individuals with their families since taking office this term,\u201d Anna Kelly, a White House spokesperson, said when asked about Chen\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

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If not resolved, Chen\u2019s case could \u201cfigure prominently\u201d when Xi is expected to meet Trump in Washington in September, said Eric Lebson, a Global Reach adviser to Chen\u2019s relatives. The family decided to speak out now because Chinese officials do not appear to be acting on Xi\u2019s commitment to Trump after the U.S. president raised Chen\u2019s detention in May, Lebson said.<\/p>\n

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The seismologist was detained in November 2024 by state security agents during a personal trip to visit his parents in Beijing, and he has been charged with espionage, Global Reach said. <\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Chen has worked as a U.S. government contractor for the State Department and Air Force Research Lab, with much of his work involving collaborating with Chinese colleagues to analyze seismological data, Global Reach said.<\/p>\n

Chen\u2019s arrest is \u201clikely an effort by Chinese officials to learn about the techniques the U.S. uses to detect nuclear tests using seismic data,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

U.S. Embassy personnel have been allowed to visit Chen several times but are not allowed to discuss the case with him, the group said. <\/p>\n

Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Chen as a wrongful detainee in March. The State Department didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n

Read more War and economic crisis complicate efforts to protect Iran\u2019s rich but endangered wildlife<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A China-born U.S. seismologist has been detained in China without trial for nearly two years. The relatives of Youlin Chen of Boston broke their silence this week after seeing no sign from the Chinese government that it was planning to release Chen. That’s despite President Donald Trump raising the issue with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during their meeting in Beijing in May. A nonprofit advising the family says Chen is the only U.S. citizen designated as wrongfully detained in China by the State Department. He was arrested during a personal trip to Beijing and charged with espionage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nUS scientist held in China for nearly 2 years, family reveals, in a case Trump has raised with Xi - Top Moving Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=1703\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US scientist held in China for nearly 2 years, family reveals, in a case Trump has raised with Xi - Top Moving Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A China-born U.S. seismologist has been detained in China without trial for nearly two years. 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