Key facts
- The wife of US seismologist Youlin Chen, detained in China, said President Donald Trump will ask Chinese leader Xi Jinping to free her husband.
- Chen is one of two Americans designated as 'wrongfully detained' by Beijing.
- Chen was arrested on November 5, 2024, at Beijing International Airport.
- Chen's research on North Korean nuclear tests was funded by the US State Department and Air Force Research Laboratory.
- The US has accused China of using decoupling to mask a low-yield nuclear test on June 22, 2020.
The wife of a US seismologist imprisoned in China said President Donald Trump will ask Chinese leader Xi Jinping to release her husband and another American during their meeting this week. Yufang Rong expressed fears that her husband, Youlin Chen, a seismologist who studies North Korean nuclear tests, could face fabricated espionage charges.
Chen, 54, is one of two Americans Beijing holds that the US has designated as "wrongfully detained." The other is Min Zin, a scholar arrested in June. Rong said she was assured during a Tuesday meeting at the White House with officials from the State Department and National Security Council that Trump would press Xi to free both men.
Trump previously raised Chen's case with Xi during a visit to Beijing in May, but it yielded no action, Rong said. A senior US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated that resolving the wrongful detentions of US citizens is always a top priority for the president.
The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Chinese foreign ministry previously stated that the country's judiciary handles cases according to the law and there is no "so-called wrongful detention."
Chen, a US citizen since 2011, was arrested on November 5, 2024, at Beijing International Airport. His research, openly funded by the US State Department and the US Air Force Research Laboratory, has been used to detect shockwaves from North Korean underground nuclear tests. Rong believes China wants to use her husband's expertise to improve its ability to conceal nuclear tests using decoupling, a technique to reduce shockwave size. The US has accused China of using decoupling to mask a low-yield nuclear test on June 22, 2020, which China denies conducting.
US embassy officials have been allowed monthly visits with Chen, always in the presence of Chinese officials. Rong is concerned about his confinement conditions, citing substandard medical care and food for his high blood pressure and diabetes.