Trump to Urge Xi to Release Detained Americans

President Donald Trump plans to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to release Dr. Youlin Chen, a U.S. citizen who has been charged with espionage in China. Chen's family informed Fox News of the president's intention following an exclusive interview with Chen's wife.

Chen, a seismic and nuclear researcher, was detained by Chinese agents in November 2024 outside the Beijing airport. According to a website dedicated to his release, his devices were seized, and his email accounts were accessed. His wife believes his detention is related to his research on monitoring nuclear tests, including work that utilized data from China.

Dr. Chen is one of two U.S. citizens in China designated by the U.S. State Department as wrongfully detained. The other is Min Zin, a scholar whose research focused on Myanmar's military government and Chinese-Myanmar relations. Min Zin's wife, Sylvia Zin, expressed uncertainty about the specific reasons for her husband's detention, noting that his research was publicly available.

Both Yugang Rong, Dr. Chen's wife, and Sylvia Zin appealed to President Trump to intervene in their husbands' cases. "My husband is an American citizen. He is the father of my son and we terribly miss him," Rong told Fox News Senior Foreign Correspondent Gillian Turner. Zin added, "At this point, I think the president is the only person who can move ahead in this case and bring him home."

Trump has previously engaged in efforts to secure the release of Americans detained abroad. The Trump administration reported securing the freedom of 83 U.S. nationals detained internationally within the past year, according to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. Trump has personally been involved in similar cases, with Rong stating, "I know whenever he gets personally involved in cases, Americans come home."