Since the 1990s, the People’s Republic of China has wrongfully detained dozens of Americans. The Foley Foundation has documented 41 cases of Americans who were either unjustly detained in China or held in the country under coercive exit bans. We assess that China currently unjustly holds more Americans than any other country. Yet despite this record, the U.S. Department of State’s current travel advisory for China remains at Level 2 — advising Americans to “Exercise Increased Caution.” By comparison, other known captor countries, including Russia and Iran, are designated as Level 4 — “Do Not Travel.” The Department’s advisory to Americans considering travel to China also lacks a “D” indicator, which would specifically warn travelers of the risk of wrongful detention. That omission appears to be a political decision that does not reflect the real risk China poses to visiting Americans. Those decisions are especially surprising given that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated two Americans as wrongfully detained this year: Dr. Youlin Chen, a seismologist, in March, and Min Zin, an academic researcher, in August.
Dr. Youlin Chen was falsely accused of espionage and wrongfully detained in November 2024. President Trump raised Dr. Chen’s case with President Xi when the two leaders met in May, and President Xi promised to look into it. Since that meeting, however, PRC officials have not responded to U.S. outreach on Dr. Chen and have wrongfully detained a second U.S. academic, Min Zin.
Min Zin is a researcher and the Executive Director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar. In June, he was lured to China under the false pretense of attending an academic conference. He was arrested immediately once his plane landed. Both Dr. Chen and Min Zin are innocent Americans and their imprisonment is unjust. Their arrests are part of China’s pattern of weaponizing its national security laws against academics. These practices should concern anyone who values independent research and academic freedom. The fact that both of these Americans’ research projects were partially funded by U.S. government grants should send a message to any U.S. researcher who has received U.S. government funding—regardless of how open their work is—that they are at risk of being targeted by the Chinese government if they travel to China. Securing the release of Dr. Chen and Min Zin must be a top priority as President Trump and President Xi prepare to meet again.
