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Issued
September 17, 2026
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Download official Senate Record PDFReturn to issue contextSENATE RESOLUTION 865—EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE
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
Mr. MARKEY (for himself, Mr. Budd, Mr. Schiff, and Mr. Curtis) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:
S. Res. 865
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—
(1) undermines the rule of law;
(2) subjects United States citizens and their families to
undue hardship; and
(3) is unacceptably coercive to the United States
Government;
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, D.C., 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
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) condemns the People's Republic of China's repeated
pattern of arbitrary or wrongful detention of United States
citizens as unacceptable and a material harm to the bilateral
relationship and the prospects for bolstering academic
cooperation and people-to-people exchanges;
(2) urges the United States Government to make the safe
return of United States citizens detained in China a top
priority, including the return of Dr. Youlin Chen and Min
Zin;
(3) urges the Secretary of State to use all available tools
to negotiate the release of all United States nationals being
unlawfully or wrongfully detained in the People's Republic of
China, including by—
(A) considering adding a “D” indicator to the China
Travel Advisory to make it clear to United States nationals
considering travel to the People's Republic of China that the
country engages in the wrongful detention of United States
citizens;
(B) raising the Travel Advisory Level on the PRC from Level
2 (exercise increased caution) to Level 3 (reconsider travel)
to reflect the current travel risks; and
(C) reviewing the criteria for the designation of a country
as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention pursuant to section
306A of the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-
Taking Accountability Act (22 U.S.C. 1741d-1); and
(4) supports President Trump's efforts to raise concerns
about the continued detention of Dr. Chen and Min Zin to
bring both United States citizens home to their loved ones
safely and quickly.