Trump to Press Xi on Release of US Nuclear Expert Held in China

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to urge Chinese President Xi Jinping to release American nuclear-test expert Youlin Chen during their meeting this week, according to Chen’s wife, Yufang Rong.

Rong said White House officials assured her during a Tuesday meeting involving State Department and National Security Council representatives that Trump would raise her husband’s detention with Xi. The two leaders are scheduled to meet Wednesday as Washington and Beijing seek to manage disputes involving trade, Taiwan and Iran.

Chen, 54, has been imprisoned in China since November 2024. The United States considers him one of two Americans “wrongfully detained” by Beijing. The other is scholar Min Zin, who was arrested in June. Rong said Trump is also expected to seek Zin’s release.

Trump previously discussed Chen’s case with Xi during a May visit to Beijing, but Rong said the talks did not result in his release. A senior U.S. official said resolving cases involving detained American citizens remains a priority for the administration.

Chen, a Chinese-born U.S. citizen and seismologist working for a U.S. government contractor, specializes in detecting seismic signals from North Korean underground nuclear tests. His research was funded by the State Department and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and relied on publicly available information, according to Rong.

Chinese security officers arrested Chen at Beijing International Airport on November 5, 2024, as he prepared to return to the United States after visiting relatives and lecturing at two universities. Rong said he has since undergone more than 100 interrogations.

She fears Chinese authorities could prosecute Chen on espionage allegations, which she disputes, and expressed concerns about his detention conditions and access to medical treatment.

U.S. Embassy officials have been permitted to visit Chen for about 30 minutes each month in the presence of Chinese officials, Rong said.

China’s Foreign Ministry has previously rejected U.S. descriptions of such cases as wrongful detention, saying Chinese judicial authorities handle cases according to law.