An American seismologist who did contract research for the U.S. government related to nuclear tests in North Korea has been detained in China for nearly two years and accused of spying, his family and supporters said.
Youlin Chen, who was born in China, was detained by Chinese state security officers at a Beijing airport in November 2024, when he was about to return to home in Boston.
Dr. Chen’s family and supporters said they were making his case public for the first time this week in the hope that the attention would add pressure on China to release him while Beijing and Washington try to maintain a fragile truce in a trade war. They say the Chinese authorities have accused him of spying, possibly in relation to his research for the U.S. government, and that the accusation is unfounded.
Dr. Chen’s detention highlights the risks posed to scientists and others involved in work potentially seen as sensitive by Beijing, whether they are visiting China for business, research or to see their families. People born in China are especially vulnerable. Under the Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the state security apparatus has magnified efforts to pursue targets suspected of espionage or subversion. Last month, the Chinese authorities seized an American scholar who studies politics in Myanmar, accusing him of spying.
Dr. Chen’s wife, Yufang Rong, said that President Donald Trump raised his case when he met Mr. Xi in May in Beijing. She hoped Mr. Trump would raise it again when the two leaders hold a summit in Washington in September.
“I am hopeful that President Xi will tell his people that they made a mistake in arresting a U.S. academic and he needs to be allowed to return to the U.S.,” Ms. Rong said in written replies to questions, referring to Dr. Chen’s detention.
On Tuesday, the State Department said that “the United States has raised Mr. Chen’s case directly with Chinese officials, calling for his immediate release.”
But China’s handling of similar cases, and details of Dr. Chen’s case, suggest that Mr. Xi will not make quick concessions. His fate may become another irritant between Washington and Beijing. Dr. Chen’s detention was first reported by Reuters.
Dr. Chen’s work for U.S. government and military agencies has included using seismic data to help better detect and analyze possible nuclear tests in North Korea.
Questions about nuclear testing and detection have become sensitive for Beijing, given American government suspicions that China conducted a small nuclear test in 2020. The Trump administration early this year issued detailed allegations about that possible test. (Some scientists say the evidence of a Chinese nuclear test in 2020 is inconclusive at best.)
There has been no indication that Dr. Chen was looking into possible Chinese nuclear tests. But “there are suspicions within the U.S. government” that Chinese investigators may have seized Dr. Chen because of such concerns, said a statement from Global Reach, an organization that works to secure the freedom of Americans detained abroad.
Dr. Chen wrote a study in 2020 for the State Department’s bureau of arms control that examined underground nuclear test explosions and earthquake data from North Korea. That report used seismic data from stations in China. Eric Lebson, the chief strategy officer of Global Reach and a former national security official, rejected the idea that Dr. Chen was a spy.
“Everything he did was transparent and collaborative,” Mr. Lebson said.
China’s foreign ministry, asked about Dr. Chen, neither confirmed nor denied that he had been detained. But a spokesman, Lin Jian, said at a briefing that China is a country governed by the rule of law and that “there is no instance of wrongful detention.”
Dr. Chen, 54, was born in Beijing, studied at Peking University and left China for graduate school in the United States. There he acquired a Ph.D., worked as a researcher and gained U.S. citizenship — a journey taken by hundreds of thousands of Chinese migrants in recent decades.
Like many scientists born in China, Dr. Chen kept in touch with researchers in his homeland, sometimes co-writing research papers with them. He traveled back to China nearly every year and never had any problems, his wife said.
Dr. Chen worked as a senior geophysicist for EMR Solutions and Technology, a company based in Florida. The company, which acquired his previous employer in 2024, has provided contract research for the State Department and U.S. defense forces on seismic events, nuclear tests and other explosions. Because nuclear tests can resemble natural jolts of the earth, seismologists have tried to refine techniques and data collection to better screen for actual tests.
He went back to China in 2024 to visit his family and celebrate his mother’s 80th birthday, his wife, Ms. Rong, said. “He had no concerns,” she said.
EMR Solutions and Technology said by email that it gives employees a “standard briefing and debriefing” about security before and after such trips. “Dr. Chen’s research, which is publicly accessible, does not involve any classified information,” the company said.
While in China, he also gave lectures at two universities, both of which advertised him as a senior scientist for EMR Solutions and Technology.
One day after his lecture at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing, Dr. Chen went to the airport to catch his flight. Then, unexpectedly, he messaged his wife that he had changed his plans. Ms. Rong sent him a message but got no reply.
Chinese investigators seized Dr. Chen’s phone, iPad, laptop and cameras, and appeared to have gained access to his online accounts, including his email, and rifled through its contents, according to Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, citing details provided by Ms. Rong. Sen. Markey has worked to secure Dr. Chen’s release. In a letter to the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Mr. Markey said that the location data from Dr. Chen’s phone appeared to show that it was at an office of the Beijing state security bureau. Sen. Markey’s office shared a copy of the letter with The New York Times.
Dr. Chen could not be reached. He was formally arrested on May 1, according to Mr. Lebson.
American consular officials have been allowed to visit Dr. Chen in the presence of Chinese officials. Ms. Rong said Dr. Chen told them he has lost as much as 40 pounds while in detention, and has not been able to get the medicines he usually takes for chronic illnesses, including diabetes and high blood pressure. It was unclear if or when Dr. Chen might stand trial.
In March, Mr. Rubio officially designated Dr. Chen as “wrongfully detained,” a step that raises the urgency of a case under legislation that took force in 2020, according to Elizabeth Richards, the director of hostage advocacy and research at the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, which has also campaigned for Dr. Chen.
“That designation is significant, because it is the U.S. government saying this person is innocent and being held for political reasons,” she said.
For now, the Chinese government is not giving ground. In 2015, China released Xue Feng, an American geologist who was born in China, after he had been detained and imprisoned for more than seven years for “illegally procuring state secrets.” His release and return to the United States came after years of lobbying by Washington.
Edward Wong contributed reporting from Washington.
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