Min Zin was arrested on June 3 after the Chinese language authorities invited him to attend a convention.
Revealed On 21 Aug 2026
China has denied a declare by Washington that it has wrongfully detained a United States citizen.
Rejecting the US designation on Friday, China’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs insisted that Myanmar scholar Min Zin, who has been detained since early June, is a hazard to nationwide safety. The disagreement provides to the obstacles that Beijing and Washington search to maneuver previous with the intention to enhance relations.
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“China is a rustic ruled by the rule of regulation, and there’s no such factor as so-called wrongful detention,” stated a spokesman when requested in regards to the case of Min Zin, who leads a assume tank that research Myanmar.
“It’s understood that the related US particular person in query is suspected of partaking in actions that endanger China’s nationwide safety, thereby violating Chinese language regulation,” the spokesman added.
The US Division of State designated Min Zin’s detainment as wrongful on Thursday. The transfer requires that Washington make securing his launch a precedence.
The designation got here weeks earlier than a deliberate go to to the White Home by President Xi Jinping. The Chinese language chief’s September 24 journey follows President Donald Trump’s May summit in Beijing.
The US and China have important variations of opinion relating to the conflicts within the Center East and commerce, amongst different points.
‘High precedence’
Min Zin had travelled to Yunnan, China on June 3 to attend an educational convention on the invitation of the Chinese language authorities, the State Division stated.
“The security and safety of US residents is the State Division’s high precedence. We’ll proceed to advocate for Mr. Zin and name for the discharge of all US residents who’re arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China,” the assertion added.
Min Zin helped to determine the Institute for Technique and Coverage-Myanmar, which researches the political, useful resource and financial dimensions of the civil warfare in Myanmar that adopted the army’s 2021 coup.
China and Myanmar share a border the place Beijing has wielded sturdy affect and is accused of aiding armed organisations that align with its pursuits.
China backs Myanmar’s army administration, which hosted widely panned elections final 12 months that excluded the nation’s important opposition teams, together with the occasion of the ousted former chief Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Earlier than his arrest, Min Zin had lived in Thailand and hung out in each the US and Myanmar.
He’s the second US citizen to have been designated as wrongfully detained in China following Youlin Chen. A Chinese language American seismologist from Boston, Chinese language authorities arrested Chen in 2024.
Chen’s spouse, Yufang Rong, stated the designation indicators that the detainees’ “freedom is a precedence for the Trump administration”.
