PHAN PHAN-GILLIS, is a Vietnamese/American businesswoman from Texas trying to develop business relationships between American and Chinese companies.
She may also be a topic of discussion between President Obama and China's President Xi Jinping when the two world leaders meet this week in Washington D.C.
Phan-Gillis, who has Chinese ancestry, is a naturalized U.S. citizen. She was visiting China as a member of Houston a trade delegation. She was detained while attempting to cross from the southern city of Zhuhai to Macau on March 19, according to a family statement.
Jeff Gillis said he spoke to his wife in the early days after being taken into custody, with the last conversation on March 23. At that time, she gave no indication she had been apprehended by Chinese authorities, he said.
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Photo provided by Jeff Gillis
Phan Phan-Gillis detained in China |
Phan-Gillis is being held in the southwestern city of Nanning, the family said. She had been under house arrest until she was transferred to a detention center on last Saturday, it added.
It was unclear whether any formal charges have been brought. A lawyer working on her case could not be immediately reached by the Associated Press.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Texas businesswoman was healthy, but Gillis said his wife suffers from high blood pressure and other complications and has been hospitalized twice during her detention.
It was unclear whether any formal charges have been brought. A lawyer working on her case could not be immediately reached by the Associated Press.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the Texas businesswoman was healthy, but Gillis said his wife suffers from high blood pressure and other complications and has been hospitalized twice during her detention.
Gillis, who until now has not publiclicized his wife's detention, decided to discuss her arrest with reporters because Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting the U.S. this week. Gillis said he hoped the timing of the publicity would pressure Beijing and Washington to act.
Gillis expressed concern for the length of time his wife has been detained. "I'm very frightened," he said, "that if we don't get her out this week, then her chances are not very good."
On Tuesday (Sept. 22), her husband disclosed that she's been detained by the Chinese government for the last six months on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets. Now he's asking the president and the State Department to help win her release.
Jeff Gillis denies the accusations against his wife, who has been accused by the Chinese Foreign Ministry with threatening China's national security.
Although she has not been charged, she was formally arrested over the weekend and moved to a more secure detention facility in the southern city of Nanning, according to her husband, who said the arrest allows Chinese authorities to continue their espionage investigation.
His wife has been visited six times by American consular officers since her March 20 arrest, according to the State Department, which said it was closely monitoring the case.
"We've raised her case with Chinese government officials on multiple occasions at a very senior level," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday during a media briefing. The White House has also raised the matter with the Chinese foreign ministry and "not received what we believe to be an adequate response."
Jeff Gillis denies the accusations against his wife, who has been accused by the Chinese Foreign Ministry with threatening China's national security.
Although she has not been charged, she was formally arrested over the weekend and moved to a more secure detention facility in the southern city of Nanning, according to her husband, who said the arrest allows Chinese authorities to continue their espionage investigation.
His wife has been visited six times by American consular officers since her March 20 arrest, according to the State Department, which said it was closely monitoring the case.
"We've raised her case with Chinese government officials on multiple occasions at a very senior level," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Tuesday during a media briefing. The White House has also raised the matter with the Chinese foreign ministry and "not received what we believe to be an adequate response."
Houston Mayor Pro-Tem Ed Gonzalez said he and Phan-Gillis were part of a five-member delegation that spent a week in China in March, speaking with Chinese entrepreneurs interested in the Houston area.
Phan-Gillis was a business consultant who traveled regularly to China and who also served as president of the Houston-Shenzhen Sister City Organization, according to Gonzalez. She often worked as an intermediary in ventures between U.S. and Chinese business interests.
Gonzalez said members of the delegation were surprised when Phan-Gillis did not meet them after the group passed through the checkpoint at Macau, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. She later texted the delegation saying she was attending to a "personal matter," said the mayor.
Phan-Gillis was a business consultant who traveled regularly to China and who also served as president of the Houston-Shenzhen Sister City Organization, according to Gonzalez. She often worked as an intermediary in ventures between U.S. and Chinese business interests.
Gonzalez said members of the delegation were surprised when Phan-Gillis did not meet them after the group passed through the checkpoint at Macau, across the Pearl River Delta from Hong Kong. She later texted the delegation saying she was attending to a "personal matter," said the mayor.
Chinese law allows detention of people for up to six months during the course of an investigation. Some other people suspected of being spies have been imprisoned for years without formal charges being filed.
Gillis expressed concern for the length of time his wife has been detained. "I'm very frightened," he said, "that if we don't get her out this week, then her chances are not very good."
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