A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the People's Republic of China has engaged in the arbitrary or wrongful detention of American academics and has otherwise harmed the prospects for scientific collaboration and people-to-people exchanges between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

Whereas the People’s Republic of China (referred to in this preamble as the PRC) has a long history of detaining United States citizens under dubious circumstances or depriving them of their freedom;

Whereas the PRC has used the arbitrary or wrongful detention of Americans and other foreign nationals for political purposes to obtain concessions from the United States and other countries, which undermines the legitimacy of the PRC's judicial system;

Whereas current and previous Secretaries of State have determined, pursuant to section 302(e)(2)(A) of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741(e)(2)(A)), that at least 5 United States citizens have been wrongfully detained in the PRC since the wrongful detention designation was established on December 27, 2020;

Whereas the Department of State previously recommended that United States citizens traveling to the PRC reconsider such travel due to serious risks, including wrongful detention, but the China Travel Advisory was downgraded from Level 3 to Level 2 on November 27, 2024;

Whereas the PRC’s arbitrary or wrongful detention of United States citizens—

Whereas, on November 5, 2024, the Government of the PRC arrested Dr. Youlin Chen, a United States citizen who has conducted transparent and open-source seismological research in cooperation with academics in the PRC, and has held him on baseless espionage charges for more than 600 days without a trial or access to his family;

Whereas the Government of the PRC deprived Dr. Chen of access to a lawyer for the first 434 days of his detention and interrogated him more than 100 times about his work without a lawyer present;

Whereas, despite high-level engagement between the United States Government and the Government of the PRC to resolve Dr. Chen’s case, the Government of the PRC has not yet taken any productive action to release Dr. Chen;

Whereas, on June 3, 2026, authorities of the PRC detained Min Zin, a United States citizen who is the executive director of a Myanmar-focused policy think tank, at the Kunming Changshui International Airport after he was invited to attend an academic event at a university in Yunnan province in the PRC;

Whereas the Kunming Municipal State Security Bureau has subjected Min Zin to detention and he has not yet had access to legal counsel;

Whereas the PRC’s practice of engaging in hostage diplomacy against the United States and other foreign countries runs contrary to its stated intent to promote academic cooperation and people-to-people exchanges and increases the risks for United States citizens and others considering travel to the PRC; and

Whereas, in advance of PRC leadership's anticipated visit to Washington, DC, in September 2026, the Government of the PRC has an opportunity to demonstrate its good faith and commitment to a constructive relationship of strategic stability by unconditionally releasing Dr. Youlin Chen and Min Zin: Now, therefore, be it