The State Department on Thursday called on China to release U.S. citizen Min Zin, an academic who leads a think-tank focused on Myanmar, alleging he is wrongfully detained on espionage charges. Min Zin was arrested in China on June 3 after being invited to attend an academic conference.
Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, stated on X that Secretary Rubio had formally designated Min Zin as wrongfully detained. "We call on Beijing to release all U.S. citizens arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China," Johnson wrote. "The safety and security of U.S. citizens is the State Department’s top priority."
Min Zin, a PhD candidate in political science at the University of California, Berkeley, founded the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP)—Myanmar in 2016. His academic work focuses on democratization and he was a former student activist in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement in 1988. The ISP tracks the status of Myanmar's government, which has received public backing from China.
According to the notes, Min Zin was detained after flying into Kunming, in southwest China, where he was accused of spying and endangering Chinese national security. The ISP has denied these allegations and urged the U.S. government to prioritize Min Zin's case, particularly ahead of a planned meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The ISP issued a statement saying, "We humbly ask that the US government continues to keep Min Zin’s case as a top priority, particularly ahead of President Xi’s visit to meet with President Trump next month, and that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) facilitate his immediate and unconditional release."
Min Zin is one of two U.S. citizens reportedly being wrongfully detained by China, according to the State Department. The other is Youlin Chen, a seismologist accused of espionage charges who was arrested at Beijing International Airport while attempting to fly home to Boston. Chen studied North Korean nuclear tests.