When President Donald Trump sits down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week, trade will be the subject at hand.
But it is also an opportunity for something else: a chance to secure the release of US citizens detained by the People’s Republic.
More Americans are thought to be imprisoned in China, some 200 in total, than in any other country, according to the Foley Foundation, which advocates for American hostages and those wrongfully detained overseas. Most are believed to be ethnically Chinese Americans who have been ensnared by Beijing’s strict security apparatus and detained for posing a threat to China’s “national security.”
A smaller number are jailed for breaking local laws, sometimes unwittingly.
A campaign to free two Americans jailed for more than a decade after falling victim to scams has gathered steam following months of advocacy, reaching high into the Trump administration.
In May, the State Department issued a request for the release of Dawn Michelle Hunt and Nelson Wells Jr. on humanitarian grounds. Last month, a bipartisan bill named for the pair was put forward in the House to expand diplomatic advocacy on behalf of Americans held in China.
And in a letter sent last week
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