Wife of Wrongfully Detained US Scholar Urges Trump to Press Xi for His Release

The wife of an American seismologist whom the United States has designated as wrongfully detained in China is urging President Donald Trump to press Chinese leader Xi Jinping for her husband’s release when the two leaders meet this week.

Yufang Rong, wife of Youlin Chen, told The Epoch Times on Sept. 22 she understands that Trump plans to raise her husband’s case with Xi.

“I know President Trump plans to raise my husband with President Xi and I hope he will tell President Xi that there are a lot of ways China and the U.S. can work together, but nothing can happen while China is holding two Americans designated as wrongful detainees,” Rong said.

Chen and Min Zin, an American scholar of Burma, are two Americans currently designated by the State Department as wrongfully detained in China. Bipartisan lawmakers introduced House and Senate resolutions this month calling for their release and urging the State Department to consider a tougher travel warning for mainland China.

Limited Communication

Rong said “there has been no movement in my husband’s case” since Trump asked Xi about him in Beijing in May.

“Youlin has monthly visits by U.S. Embassy officials, and I’ve only been able to communicate with him through letters I write that are read to him, and responses he dictates,” she said.

“Even his lawyer cannot share information about his case with me.”

Chen, a Chinese-born American seismologist, was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport on Nov. 5, 2024, as he prepared to return to Boston after visiting family in China.

Chinese authorities accused him of espionage in connection with his research. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated Chen as wrongfully detained, and the State Department has called for his immediate release.

The congressional resolutions said Chen went 434 days without access to a lawyer and was interrogated more than 100 times about his work without counsel present. They said his research was academic, publicly reported, and transparent and that he had never held a U.S. security clearance.

Academic Work at Center of Case

“My husband is an academic,” Rong said.

She said Chen had worked with Chinese colleagues for about 20 years collecting and analyzing seismic data and publishing the results publicly.

“They collect seismic data and collaborate with him to analyze the data,” she said. “They then publish the results on the internet. There is nothing about this work that constitutes espionage.”

Chen’s research has included using seismic data to distinguish nuclear explosions from earthquakes, including studies involving North Korean nuclear tests.

Eric Lebson, chief strategy officer of Global Reach, a hostage advocacy organization that has been advising Chen’s family, said the group believes competing parts of the Chinese government are at odds over the case.

“We believe there is a fight going on within the Chinese government between the Ministry of State Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Lebson told The Epoch Times.

“It is up to President Xi to determine which will guide China’s relationship with the U.S.”