Texas man says wife was arrested in China on spying charges

This undated photo provided by Jeff Gillis shows his wife, Phan Phan-Gillis. Chinese authorities are investigating Phan-Gillis, an American businesswoman on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, confirming earlier media reports that Phan-Gillis of Houston was detained earlier this year while traveling in the country. (Courtesy of Jeff Gillis via AP) This undated photo provided by Jeff Gillis shows his wife, Phan Phan-Gillis. Chinese authorities are investigating Phan-Gillis, an American businesswoman on suspicion of spying and stealing state secrets, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015, confirming earlier media reports that Phan-Gillis of Houston was detained earlier this year while traveling in the country. (Courtesy of Jeff Gillis via AP)

By Associated Press September 22, 2015 4 min read

DALLAS (AP) – Phan Phan-Gillis was visiting China last spring as part of an American trade delegation that included the mayor pro tem of Houston and others who were promoting business opportunities in the nation’s fourth-largest city.

But after passing through security at a border checkpoint, the 55-year-old Texas businesswoman mysteriously disappeared from her group.

On Tuesday, 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.