Families of Americans Jailed in China Urge Trump to Raise Cases With Xi During Beijing Visit
Why It Matters
Two American families are pressing President Donald Trump to use his high-stakes Beijing summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping to seek the release of U.S. citizens who have spent years inside Chinese prisons. The appeal comes as advocates warn China remains among the countries most likely to detain Americans without fair legal process.
What Happened
As Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for the first U.S. presidential state visit to China in nearly a decade, the families of Dawn Michelle Hunt and Nelson Wells Jr. went public with urgent requests for the administration to make their cases a priority in talks with Xi.
Hunt, 54, is a native of Illinois. Wells, 52, is from Louisiana. Both are serving sentences in separate Chinese prisons on drug trafficking charges. Their families maintain they were unwitting victims of airport smuggling schemes and are innocent of the allegations against them.
Hunt faces a life sentence. Her brother Tim Hunt, a retired police officer, said her physical and mental health have deteriorated sharply and that he fears she may be battling uterine cancer. “She’s angry. She wants to come home,” he told reporters Wednesday, describing her as “hurt and broken by false promises” of release.
Nelson Wells Sr., a U.S. Army veteran, and his wife Cynthia said their son’s mental state has grown fragile after 12 years of isolation. “When I speak to Nelson, it tears me apart,” the elder Wells said in public remarks Wednesday, adding a direct plea to the president: “Have mercy, Mr. President. Look out for American people like us.”
By the Numbers
- 12 years — the length of Nelson Wells Jr.’s imprisonment in China as of 2026
- 54 and 52 — the ages of Dawn Michelle Hunt and Nelson Wells Jr., respectively
- 3 — wrongfully detained Americans China released in 2024, according to the Foley Foundation
- 9 years — time since a sitting U.S. president last made a state visit to China (Trump’s first-term trip)
- 2025 — the year the State Department formally requested humanitarian release for both Hunt and Wells
State Department Response
A State Department spokesperson confirmed both individuals are detained in China and said the Trump administration considers the safety of Americans abroad its “highest priority.” The department said it is providing consular assistance and that U.S. diplomatic staff “unwaveringly advocates for the health and welfare” of Americans held in China. Officials declined to elaborate, citing privacy considerations.
The U.S. government’s travel advisory for China warns that American citizens may be held without consular access and subjected to detention without fair or transparent legal procedures.
Zoom Out
China consistently ranks among the nations most likely to imprison U.S. citizens unjustly, according to the Foley Foundation, a nonprofit that tracks Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage overseas. The cases of Hunt and Wells have moved through multiple administrations without resolution.
Peter Humphrey, a British national who was himself imprisoned in China and now advocates for others in similar circumstances, said the bilateral summit creates a meaningful opening. He noted that Xi responds favorably to direct, leader-to-leader appeals, and that there is existing receptivity on the Chinese side following the State Department’s formal humanitarian request last year. “When it comes to America’s own ordinary citizens, there is a really good chance that if he personally mentions these names to Xi Jinping, something will happen positively,” Humphrey said in public remarks.
However, Humphrey cautioned that extracting political prisoners — such as Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, whose release Trump has pledged to pursue — is a significantly harder ask. The two-day summit is expected to cover a wide range of issues, and analysts tracking the Trump-Xi meeting have identified several flashpoints that could limit the scope of any humanitarian agreements.
What’s Next
The Trump-Xi summit spans two days in Beijing. Advocates say the window for a direct presidential mention of the Hunt and Wells cases is narrow but consequential. If Trump raises the names personally with Xi, Humphrey and others believe a positive outcome is within reach. Both families are monitoring the visit closely, hoping it marks a turning point after more than a decade of failed efforts across multiple administrations.