Washington DC [US], November 2 : A US congresswoman has called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to upgrade Washington’s travel advisory for China, citing concerns over the alleged use of wrongful detention of American citizens by Chinese authorities, as reported by The Epoch Times.
According to The Epoch Times, Rep. Young Kim (R-Calif.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, sent a letter to Rubio on October 29, urging the State Department to raise China’s travel advisory from Level 2, which advises travellers to exercise increased caution, to Level 3, recommending that they reconsider travel. In a statement, Kim said Americans travelling to China should receive a clear assessment of the potential dangers, accusing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of using detained US citizens as bargaining tools in what she described as hostage diplomacy. She argued that the threat in China was fundamentally different from security concerns in countries such as Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, where risks largely arise from non-state actors. 
According to Kim, the potential danger in China stems directly from state authorities and extends across the country. The State Department revised its China travel advisory in September, adding warnings about exit bans and the possibility of arbitrary arrest and detention. In October, it introduced a 'D' indicator highlighting the risk of wrongful detention, alongside the existing 'O' indicator for other potential threats.
Kim also urged the department to identify two American citizens, U Min Zin and Chen Youlin, as examples of wrongful detention. Both have already been designated as wrongfully detained by the State Department. Min Zin was detained in China's Yunnan Province in June over espionage allegations, while seismologist Chen has been imprisoned since November 2024, as reported by The Epoch Times.
During a September congressional hearing, Jamestown Foundation president Peter Mattis supported stronger travel warnings and called for publicly documenting cases involving detained Americans, as reported by The Epoch Times.