Who is Min Zin? US citizen ‘wrongfully detained’ in China on espionage charges; here's what we know

The US State Department on Thursday (local time) said that China is wrongfully detaining an American scholar, U Min Zin, making the case of his release a priority for President Donald Trump's administration as the leaders of the two countries prepare to meet in Washington next month.

Citing a statement, Bloomberg reported that the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio decided to review Min Zin’s detention on 3 June in Yunnan province in southwestern China, where he had gone to attend an academic conference at the government's invitation.

What do we know about Min Zin's detention?

A CNN report citing Zin's brother said that Min Zin went to Yunnan earlier this summer to attend a conference at Kunming University, at the invitation of a professor he has known since 2018. He had reportedly traveled to China in the past without any incident, including a conference he attended in 2025.

However, this time, he was detained immediately after arriving in Beijing, with the Chinese government stating that he is "suspected of spying and endangering Chinese national security.”

Who is Min Zin?

Min Zin, a Myanmar native, is also an expert on his country, where he had been a student activist during the pro-democracy movement in his youth. He was forced into hiding for seven years before migrating to the United States, where he enrolled in a PhD programme at UC Berkeley. It was during his time at Berkeley that he met his wife and became a US citizen. The two have a teenage daughter.

In 2016, Min Zin returned to Myanmar, where he set up a think tank, the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP). After the coup in 2021, he and his family moved to Thailand, where they have been living since.

His brother, Aung Maw Zin, said, "2012 was an incredibly important year in Min Zin’s life. He became both a naturalized US citizen and a father. That moment carried deep meaning for him. America had given him asylum when there was no safe space for him in his home country, Burma."

US State Dept issues statement

State Department Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson said, "The safety and security of US citizens is the State Department’s top priority," and added, "We will continue to advocate for Mr. Zin and call for the release of all US citizens who are arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China.”

China's response

While Beijing has not issued a statement following Rubio's review, the Chinese Foreign Ministry in June said that Min Zin was being held on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security, and that the US consulate in Guangzhou had been notified.

Min Zin's brother welcomes US State Dept's remarks

Welcoming the State Department's remarks, Min Zin's brother told CNN, "When I heard the news, I teared up a little bit," and added that Min Zin's family is "deeply grateful to President Trump and Secretary Rubio for moving swiftly to designate Min Zin as wrongfully detained.”

He also said, "We know how seriously the President takes bringing Americans home, and I am confident in his ability to help secure my brother’s release."

Aung Maw Zin noted that the designation would help Min Zin's daughter to know that her father is not a criminal. Min Zin is among two Americans designated as wrongfully detained in China, along with Youlin Chen, a seismologist who has been detained since early November 2024.