Washington, September 18 (Daily Kiran) : U.S. lawmakers are pressing President Donald Trump to address two critical issues during his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. They are urging him to ensure the release of Americans detained in China and to restrict China’s access to advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
This demand comes as Senator Ro Khanna announced a hearing on U.S.-China AI security agreements. The hearing is scheduled for September 23, just one day before the meeting between the two leaders at the White House.
On September 17, Senators Edward Markey and Ted Budd introduced a resolution accusing China of repeatedly wrongfully detaining American scholars. Senators John Curtis and Adam Schiff also supported this initiative.
In the House, Representatives Stephen Lynch and John Moolenar introduced a similar resolution. The senators emphasized the need for the safe return of American academics Yulin Chen and Min Zin.
Lynch stated, “President Trump should demand the release of every American unlawfully detained during his upcoming meeting with Xi Jinping.” The Senate resolution calls on the Secretary of State to use all available means to negotiate their release. It also requests an increase in the travel advisory for China from Level 2 to Level 3, advising Americans to reconsider travel to the country.
The resolution proposes reviewing indicators of wrongful detention in travel advisories and establishing criteria for designating a country as a sponsor of wrongful detentions.
Separately, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer urged Trump to prevent China from accessing the most advanced AI chips and manufacturing equipment. He stated, “Before meeting with Xi Jinping next week, Trump must set a boundary and declare that restricting access to our cutting-edge AI technology is non-negotiable.”
Schumer mentioned that a bipartisan group has introduced legislation to halt chip sales under the National Defense Authorization Act, accusing Trump of obstructing these efforts.
Khanna, a senior Democrat on the House Select Committee on China, highlighted the need for international cooperation on AI security. He stated, “We need an immediate agreement with China on basic oversight and security standards.” The upcoming virtual hearing will explore risks associated with the loss of human control over AI systems.
Witnesses will include Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton and retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan. Khanna noted that despite repeated requests, and Anthropic have not committed to testify. He has also reached out to Chinese companies like Moonshot AI, Alibaba, and DeepSeek, requesting binding agreements with American AI labs.
According to the resolution, American citizen Yulin Chen, who was conducting seismic research with Chinese scholars, was arrested on November 5, 2024. He has been detained for over 600 days without trial or contact with his family. He faces espionage charges, which lawmakers describe as baseless. For the first 434 days, he was also denied legal representation.
Meanwhile, American citizen Min Zin, who heads a Myanmar-focused policy think tank, was detained on June 3, 2026, at Kunming Changshui International Airport while attending an academic program at a university in Yunnan province.
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