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America Must Confront China’s Hostage Diplomacy In The Nuclear Age

The United States should recognize the systematic abduction of American citizens as a deliberate tactic of Chinese statecraft that warrants a decisive and comprehensive response.

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President Donald Trump’s recent primetime address on election security further exposed China as a direct threat to American national security, alleging China obtained 220 million U.S. voter files, a claim backed up by declassified intelligence documents. Against this backdrop of escalating transnational aggression, the wrongful detention of American scientist Youlin Chen for nearly two years underscores how far Beijing’s repressive tactics have evolved. 

Chen, a 54-year-old Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizen, is a seismologist who specializes in detecting underground nuclear tests. In December 2020, he published a technical report for the U.S. government, using publicly available seismic data collected in China to analyze North Korea’s six known nuclear detonations that occurred between 2006 and 2017. The report remains accessible on the Defense Technical Information Center website and contains no classified information.

On November 5, 2024, Chinese state security arrested Chen at Beijing Capital International Airport as he prepared to return home after a family visit and academic lectures. The Chinese authorities waited until May 2025, nearly seven months after Chen’s arrest, to formally charge him with espionage, an offense that can carry life imprisonment or, in extreme cases, the death penalty. 

To date, Chen has not stood trial and remains in detention. As is typical in Chinese national security cases, the proceedings are conducted behind closed doors with minimal public evidence disclosed. Since the Chinese judicial system has........

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