Chairs Ask President to Bring Home Americans Unjustly Detained in China

October 23, 2025

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and U.S. Representative Chris Smith (R-New Jersey), the Chair and Cochair respectively of the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) calling on the President to personally raise the cases of Americans unjustly detained in the People’s Republic of China during his next meeting with General Secretary Xi Jinping. The letter also urges direct, personal advocacy to secure relief and release for Americans facing life-threatening conditions and to end the PRC’s systemic use of exit bans, which the Chairs call “hostage-taking.” 

Representative John Moolenaar (R-MI), Chair of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, joined the Chairs on the letter. 

The Members of Congress highlighted the urgent humanitarian cases of Nelson Wells, Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt, both incarcerated for more than a decade following trial proceedings lacking due process and both suffering serious medical conditions that require immediate attention. Members of the Wells and Hunt families testified at a CECC hearing last year.   

The letter also calls for sustained, top-level diplomacy to stop the PRC’s widespread use of exit bans, a practice that separates U.S. families and uses detention to influence U.S. policy or gain commercial advantage.

Requests to the President, as detailed in the letter:

• Personally raise the cases of Nelson Wells, Jr. and Dawn Michelle Hunt and press for immediate humanitarian transfer or release.
• Raise the cases of detained artist Gao Zhen and his U.S.-citizen child, who is exit-banned from leaving China.
• Focus the Administration’s diplomatic efforts on the case of Gulshan Abbas, Ekpar Asat, the relatives of Radio Free Asia employees, and Pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin.
• Meet privately with impacted families; ensure regular, transparent briefings; expand consular access and medical oversight; and use all available avenues — including humanitarian release, medical parole, and prisoner-transfer mechanisms — to secure relief and release.
• Coordinate with allies confronting similar abuses and employ all available executive authorities to ensure accountability for unjust detentions, mistreatment, and exit-ban practices.

The letter includes information about the cases raised in the letter and a classified annex including the names of detained Americans whose families do not want publicity, as they fear reprisals against their families in China.   

Background:

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China has documented the PRC’s use of wrongful detentions and exit bans. The Commission continues to advocate for the release of U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents unjustly detained in the PRC.      

Media Contact: — Scott Flipse, (202) 226-3777