China wrongful detention of Americans is more widespread than the US State Department’s travel advisory suggests, with the advisory carrying no ‘D’ marker for wrongful detention despite China holding more unjustly confined American nationals than any other country on record.
According to the Foley Foundation‘s 2024 research, China had eight verified wrongfully detained Americans at the time of publication. Taken together, China and Russia accounted for roughly a third of all known cases of Americans being unjustly held abroad by the end of that calendar year. In total, Americans were being held in at least 15 countries as 2024 closed out.
The advisory gap: Level 2 warning, no detention marker
The US Department of State currently maintains a Level 2 advisory for Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, advising Americans to ‘Exercise Increased Caution.’ The advisory does reference ‘arbitrary enforcement of local laws, including in relation to exit bans,’ but the ‘D’ designation (the standard marker applied when wrongful detention is an identified risk) is absent from the China page entirely.
Human rights organisations and lawmakers have criticised that omission as dangerously misleading. Advocates argue the advisory is outdated relative to the pattern of detentions and the deteriorating state of US-China relations, and are pressing the State Department to apply a more stringent warning level that reflects the actual risk environment.
The scale of the problem may be considerably larger than official figures capture. The non-profit Dui Hua Foundation estimated that at least 200 Americans are unjustly imprisoned in China, with 30 of those cases also subject to unlawful exit bans, according to a September 2025 report by Politico. Advocacy groups note that the verified count represents only confirmed cases: many families stay silent, hoping quiet diplomacy will produce a faster resolution, which makes systematic tracking difficult.
In November 2024, three Americans wrongfully detained in China for years were released following a diplomatic agreement with Beijing. A White House spokesperson, under the Biden administration, announced at the time that ‘all the wrongfully detained Americans’ in China had been returned. More recently, the Trump administration secured the release of a Wells Fargo executive who had been held under an exit ban, a development that lawmakers and families of other detainees have pointed to as grounds for cautious optimism.
China wrongful detention dispute deepens after Trump executive order
The issue moved into sharper diplomatic relief in early September 2025, when US President Donald Trump signed an executive order designating ‘State Sponsors of Wrongful Detention, who may face severe penalties, including economic sanctions, visa restrictions, foreign assistance restrictions, and travel restrictions for US passport holders.’ China rejected the move outright.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian called the White House action ‘ill-motivated’ and said it ‘paints a wrong picture’ of China. Lin insisted that China protects and ensures the safety of foreign visitors, travellers, and business people. Beijing also took the opportunity to accuse Washington of a ‘complete lack of respect for Central American countries,’ framing the executive order as part of a broader effort by the US to ‘weaponize visas’ against Chinese-Central American ties.
The advisory inconsistency sits within a wider pattern. High-profile leisure destinations such as Grenada carry more visible warning language, while China (with the largest verified tally of unjustly held American nationals) sits at Level 2 with no detention marker. Critics argue the disparity reflects diplomatic rather than risk-based calculus.
Tourism flows pull in opposite directions
On the commercial side, the picture is mixed. Chinese arrivals in the US rose 2.57% in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, even as overall inbound international tourism to the US fell sharply amid stricter border controls and rising travel costs. Chinese visitors are drawn particularly to family-friendly attractions, national parks, and major cities, and demand for flexible itineraries such as road trips is growing.
American travel to China tells a different story. Geopolitical tensions and the perceived risk of detention have suppressed volumes, and the media environment (rather than the State Department advisory) appears to be the operative warning for most US travellers. Tour operator Imperial Tours, known for luxury China itineraries aimed at Western clients, has moved to add destinations such as South Korea to retain its American customer base as demand for China tours lags.
The Foley Foundation’s findings cover verified cases only. With the Trump executive order in force and diplomatic pressure on Beijing mounting, the State Department faces renewed calls to update the China advisory before the next travel season, and to add the ‘D’ marker that advocates say should already be there.
