US expert on underground nuclear tests held in China for 18 months

China Holds U.S. Seismologist on Espionage Charges

The relatives of Youlin Chen of Boston broke their silence this week, apparently after they saw no sign from the Chinese government that it was planning to release Chen — even after President Donald Trump brought up the case when meeting Xi in Beijing in May, according to Global Reach, a Washington-based nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing home Americans wrongly detained abroad.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on March 19 designated Chen, 54, as “wrongfully detained,” making his release a top US priority.

The wife of an American seismologist who has been held in China for nearly two years is urging the Trump administration to help bring him home.