Not that it necessarily matters to the topic at hand (getting the money out of China and to the USA), but this information is definitely not the impression you gave this forum when you first started this post. You presented this as your wife's money that was being held for a child/children until they came of age. That revelation is a bit jarring, at this late stage of the discussion.

At any rate, my guess is that the relatives consider it a return of your money, even if your interpretation is that you gave it to them so that = their money. They may be unsophisticated financially, but it seems that they are good honest people.