Chinese authorities have arrested an American scholar known for his research on Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy on suspicion of espionage, in a rare national security case involving a U.S. citizen.
The arrest comes at a sensitive time in U.S.-China relations, barely a month after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing as both countries sought to stabilise ties after a prolonged period of tensions.
The scholar, Min Zin, is suspected of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Friday.
According to a Burmese activist familiar with the matter, Min Zin disappeared on June 3 after travelling to Kunming, the capital of China’s Yunnan province, to attend a conference. The activist, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said the scholar had visited China several times in the past.
The activist also noted that Min Zin was not involved in any direct political activism at the time of his arrest, despite his long history of pro-democracy engagement.
Min Zin was a student activist during Myanmar’s 1988 pro-democracy uprising, a movement that was violently suppressed by the military government. He later sought asylum in the United States and went on to build an academic and policy career.
He is the founder of the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP Myanmar), a think tank that has published extensively on Chinese foreign policy, trade relations, and cross-border issues between China and Myanmar, including Myanmar’s rare earth exports to China.
In addition to his policy work, Min Zin is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, Berkeley.
Meanwhile, human rights organisation Amnesty International has called for his immediate release, describing the circumstances surrounding his detention as deeply troubling.
“The circumstances around Min Zin’s mysterious arrest are extremely concerning, as is the apparent charge of espionage,” said Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar researcher.