US Seismologist Detained on Espionage Charges in China

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US seismologist Chen Youlin has been detained in China by Chinese authorities on espionage charges, according to his family. Chen, a 54-year-old citizen of the United States, was arrested in November 2024 during a trip to Beijing to visit family. Born in China, Chen became a US citizens in 2011. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and specializes in using seismological data to identify nuclear tests.

Chen's wife, Rong Yufang, also a seismologist, claims his work was always transparent and collaborative with Chinese colleagues. The allegations against Chen are “both wrong and inconsistent with the public and collaborative nature of the work that he has done,” she said. Chen's published work centres on North Korea, a close friend of China and long sanctioned for its nuclear weapons programme and underground tests.

Chen's detention comes a month after China confirmed that it had arrested another US scholar, Min Zin, director at a Myanmar-focused think tank. Beijing has accused Min Zin of spying and endangering Chinese national security. Chen is currently the only US citizen designated as “wrongfully detained” in China.

In an interview with Reuters, Rong said Chinese authorities interrogated her husband more than 100 times on his work. He wasn't allowed to see a lawyer for the first 13 months of his detention. Chen's health is a concern, as he suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The Foley Foundation, another US-based hostage advocacy group, said Chen needs reliable access to treatment and care.

The US intelligence suggests that China is developing a new arsenal and has conducted secret tests, which Beijing denies. Chen's work included a study in December 2020 that looked at seismic data recorded across Asia, including China, to improve methods for nuclear-test monitoring and yield estimation.

And in related news to this specific story, there is no direct Nigerian connection to this story at this moment but it will be interesting to see how the international community will respond to this situation. It is also worth noting that Chen's case comes at a time of heightened tensions between the US and China.

“He is doing precisely the kind of people-to-people engagement that the Chinese government says it wants,” his wife Rong Yufang said in a statement through Global Reach.