The State Department is updating its travel advisory for mainland China to include an increased risk level for wrongful detention, according to a new plan seen by Semafor.
The State Department’s move comes after two US citizens were labeled as wrongfully detained earlier this year, and at a complex moment in the relationships between the two most powerful countries in the world. Despite a personally warm relationship between the presidents, the countries’ deep differences from the Taiwan Strait to trade to artificial intelligence remain.
A person familiar with the situation told Semafor the department’s change is connected to the continued detentions of the two Americans, Min Zin and Youlin Chen. Zin is a Myanmar scholar who was detained in June and accused of endangering China’s national security. Chen is a seismologist detained in 2024 and charged with espionage. Both are US citizens.
The travel advisory as a whole remains at a Level 2, which urges Americans to “Exercise Increased Caution” when traveling to China, but the department is adding a “D” risk indicator for wrongful detention. Previously, the travel advisory for mainland China had an “O” risk indicator, which meant that there were “other potential risks not covered” by the department’s specific risk categories.
“The U.S. Department of State has determined that Americans are at serious risk of wrongful detention in China,” a State Department spokesman said in a statement to Semafor. “The D risk indicator means the State Department has determined Americans are at risk of wrongful detention by the government of the country.”
A group of bipartisan senators introduced a resolution last month pushing the department to add the wrongful detention indicator to its travel advisory, citing the two detained citizens.
The spokesman added that wrongful detention is determined by a variety of factors, including having US citizenship or a connection to the US. This is the latest update to the State Department’s China travel advisory — in early September, the department added stronger warnings about wrongful detention, the “arbitrary enforcement of local laws,” and the usage of exit bans.
Asked why the travel advisory remains at a Level 2 given the new wrongful detention label, the spokesman said it “identifies a specific risk of wrongful detention” and that “the overall Travel Advisory level reflects a broader assessment of safety and security conditions.”