China rejected on Tuesday an accusation that it has wrongfully detained a U.S. citizen following a report by the Reuters news agency that an American seismologist has been held in the country for nearly two years and is facing trial on spying charges.
According to Reuters, Youlin Chen, 54, who was born in China, had carried out U.S.-funded work on detecting North Korean nuclear tests before he was arrested at Beijing Capital International Airport on Nov. 5, 2024, as he prepared to board a flight home to Boston.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio designated Chen “wrongfully detained” in March and made his release a top U.S. priority, according to Reuters, but his wife Yufang Rong told the news agency the Trump administration had withheld word of her husband’s case in the hope that high-level diplomacy might secure his release.
Courtesy Dr. Yufang Rong/Handout/REUTERS
“China is a country governed by rule of law, and the relevant department handles the case in accordance with the rule of law,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said Tuesday during a regular media briefing when asked about the case. “There is no instance of wrongful detention.”
Rong said the White House and State Department had told her that President Trump raised her husband’s detention with Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a state visit in Beijing in May, but that he remained in prison.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed to CBS News on Tuesday that the U.S. government had raised Chen’s case with Chinese officials, without specifying the level at which the conversations had taken place. The spokesperson reiterated the State Department’s call for Chen’s release.
His detention came to light following the arrest last month of another U.S. citizen by Chinese authorities. Min Zin, a U.S. scholar and director of a think tank focused on Myanmar, was in China for a meeting when he was detained at an airport in the city of Kunming. He has been accused of spying and endangering Chinese national security.
The Foley Foundation, a hostage advocacy group that works with the U.S. government, says there are at least 12 American citizens being wrongfully detained in China.
Chen’s wife Rong told Reuters that she fears China will convict him of espionage, a crime that carries a possible sentence of life imprisonment or even the death penalty.
“I believe they will convict him no matter what and the trial will be behind closed doors,” she told the news agency.
She claims her husband has been interrogated more than 100 times and that he wasn’t allowed to see a lawyer for 13 months. U.S. embassy officials have visited Chen several times, Reuters said, but always with Chinese officials present.
At the beginning of his detention, Rong claims he was subjected to “harsh conditions” and was unable to obtain medication for his diabetes and other health problems. He’s lost 30 to 40 pounds, is given insufficient food and receives only poor-quality medications, she alleges.
President Trump is expected to raise both Chen and Zin’s cases with Xi when the Chinese leader visits Washington in September.