Houston businesswoman detained in China for allegedly spying

Houston businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis has been detained by the Chinese government for allegedly being a spy and stealing state secrets. Her husband Jeff Gillis said he is publicizing her ordeal to coincide with the U.S. visit this week of China's President Xi Jinping in hopes of placing pressure on U.S. and Chinese authorities to secure her release. less Houston businesswoman Sandy Phan-Gillis has been detained by the Chinese government for allegedly being a spy and stealing state secrets. Her husband Jeff Gillis said he is publicizing her ordeal to coincide ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Jeff Gillis Photo: Courtesy Of Jeff Gillis Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Houston businesswoman detained in China for allegedly spying 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

Chinese authorities have detained a Houston businesswoman for six months while investigating her for spying and stealing state secrets and this weekend moved her into a more secure detention center, her husband said on Monday.

Jeff Gillis said he is publicizing her ordeal to coincide with the U.S. visit this week of China's President Xi Jinping in hopes of placing pressure on U.S. and Chinese authorities to secure her release. Gillis said he has been working with the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Consulate in China since she was taken into custody in March but has yet to receive any answers as to why she is being investigated. The U.S. State Department did not immediately return calls Monday.

Sandy Phan-Gillis, a 55-year-old naturalized American citizen of Chinese descent who was born in Vietnam, was on a trade delegation earlier this year to China when she was stopped at a border crossing going from Zhuhai to Macau. Also on the trip were Houston's mayor pro-tem, Ed Gonzalez and his chief of staff, Houston businessman Vincent Chau, and Gary Ge, a Chinese businessman. Gonzalez said it was a routine trip promoting trade in Houston.

"There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was pretty much uneventful, just a series of meetings," Gonzalez said.

On March 19, after the group had been in China for about a week, stopping in Qingdao, Beijing and Shenzhen, they were passing through immigration to go from Guangzhou to Macau, a small peninsula in southern China near Hong Kong. Gonzalez said the group was separated as they went through the crossing and were waiting on the other side for Phan-Gillis to arrive.

"Sandy was nowhere to be found," Gonzalez said. "But it was daytime, it was busy, and there was nothing out of the ordinary, so we thought maybe she had gone to the restroom."

Chau stayed behind to wait for her but after she didn't appear he also came back to the hotel. Gonzalez said Phan-Gillis later called Chau to say she was "taking care of a personal matter."

"I thought, 'Man, that's bizarre, she should have let us know,"" Gonzalez said.

The group was supposed to fly back together from Hong Kong on March 21. But Phan-Gillis sent another text to Chau saying she was handling a personal matter and would see them back in Houston, Gonzalez said.

By March 31, when Phan-Gillis' husband had still not heard from her, he began to grow seriously concerned. He said he hadn't worried before because it wasn't unusual for his wife to extend her business trips at the last minute. As the owner of PCI-Pacific Communications, she did consulting for U.S. and Chinese businesses and was also the president of the Houston Shenzhen Sister City Organization. Neither was it uncommon for the couple to go days without talking when Phan-Gillis was traveling.

But when she did not reply to his frantic email, Jeff Gillis called the U.S. Consulate in China, who told him they were notified on March 23 that Phan-Gillis was detained by state security services on March 20 for allegedly being a spy and stealing state secrets. Gillis has retained two lawyers, here and in China, and said his wife receives monthly consular visits but is not able to speak to anyone else.

"I really want to get her out," he said. " I still don't understand what is going on. She has done so much for U.S. China relations, it astounds me to think that China would act this way to a really good friend."

A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry in Beijing did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.