\n<\/p>\n
An American seismologist has been detained in China on espionage charges since 2024, his family has revealed, saying Donald Trump\u2019s direct appeal for the scientist\u2019s release to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, went unanswered.<\/p>\n
Youlin Chen \u2013 who has researched how to detect underground nuclear tests using seismological data \u2013 was detained on 5 November 2024, according to a statement from the NGO Global Reach, which is working with his family to secure his freedom.<\/p>\n
Global Reach said Chen\u2019s arrest may be linked to the US government\u2019s accusation that China conducted underground nuclear tests in violation of nuclear test bans.<\/p>\n
\u201cChen\u2019s area of expertise \u2013 seismic monitoring and detection of underground nuclear tests \u2013 would give the Chinese government an opportunity to learn as much as possible about US seismic detection methodologies so they can establish countermeasures that allow them to circumvent [the treaty],\u201d Global Reach said.<\/p>\n
Chen was formally declared \u201cwrongfully detained\u201d by the US government in March, but his family chose not to announce the designation in hopes it would help state department efforts to have him released, the statement said.<\/p>\n
Global Reach said that Trump urged Xi to free Chen during the US president\u2019s state visit to China in May, and that the Chinese president reportedly agreed to work on the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now at the midpoint between the May commitment made by President Xi and his upcoming September visit to Washington DC, and the Chinese have made no apparent movement on releasing Dr Chen,\u201d said Eric Lebson, Global Reach chief strategy officer.<\/p>\n
Global Reach did not say why Chen was in China when he was detained or give any details of his arrest.<\/p>\n
Chen\u2019s wife, Yufang Rong, said she had not been able to speak to her husband for more than 600 days and was \u201cconcerned for his health and wellbeing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoulin has never held a US government security clearance and to suggest he was involved in espionage is both wrong and inconsistent with the public and collaborative nature of the work that he has done,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Chen has diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, according to a profile by the James Foley Foundation, which also advocates for wrongfully detained Americans abroad.<\/p>\n
The US military and state department have funded some of Chen\u2019s research, Global Reach said, and he has authored studies on using data from across Asia, including in China, \u201cto improve methods for nuclear test monitoring and yield estimation\u201d.<\/p>\n
China denies it has conducted explosive nuclear tests, saying the US is seeking a pretext to resume its own testing.<\/p>\n
The state department on Tuesday urged Beijing to release Chen. \u201cThe United States has raised Mr Chen\u2019s case directly with Chinese officials, calling for his immediate release,\u201d a department spokesperson told AFP by email, reiterating the call for him to be freed.<\/p>\n
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An American seismologist has been detained in China on espionage charges since 2024, his family has revealed, saying Donald Trump\u2019s direct appeal for the scientist\u2019s release to his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, went unanswered. Youlin Chen \u2013 who has researched how to detect underground nuclear tests using seismological data \u2013 was detained on 5 November<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[2153,8134,105,2906,761,220,572,702,24994],"class_list":{"0":"post-51143","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crime-justice","8":"tag-china","9":"tag-detained","10":"tag-expert","11":"tag-family","12":"tag-human","13":"tag-nuclear","14":"tag-reveals","15":"tag-rights","16":"tag-seismology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/51144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}