Family: China Has Held US Seismologist for 600 Days

A China-born American seismologist has been detained in China without trial for nearly two years, an advocacy group advising his family said Tuesday. The relatives of Youlin Chen of Boston broke their silence this week, reports the AP, apparently after they saw no sign from the Chinese government that it was planning to release Chen—even after President Trump brought up the case when meeting Xi in Beijing in May, according to Global Reach, a Washington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing home Americans wrongly detained abroad.

"I have not been able to speak with my husband for over 600 days and am concerned for his health and well-being," Yufang Rong, Chen's wife, said in a statement released by Global Reach. Trump "has already freed 106 people and I know that he and his team will bring Youlin home to us," Rong said. 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.

Chen has worked as a US 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. Chen's arrest is "likely an effort by Chinese officials to learn about the techniques the US uses to detect nuclear tests using seismic data," the group said. US embassy personnel have been allowed to visit Chen several times but are not allowed to discuss the case with him, the group said.

Chen is the only US citizen determined by the State Department to be wrongfully detained in China, Global Reach said, and the State Department said Tuesday that the US government has raised Chen's case directly with Chinese officials, calling for his immediate release. A rep for the Chinese foreign ministry said Tuesday that there is no "wrongful detention" in China. If not resolved, Chen's case could "figure prominently" when Xi is expected to meet Trump in Washington in September, said Eric Lebson of Global Reach.