Who is U Min Zin? US scholar ‘wrongfully detained’ in China on spying charges

The US State Department on Thursday (August 20) stated that China's detention of American scholar U Min Zin is unjust and confirmed that securing his release has become a key priority for President Donald Trump's administration as the leaders of the two countries prepare for a Washington meeting next month.

According to media reports, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio moved to review Min Zin’s case following his detention on 3 June in China's Yunnan province in southwestern China, where he had travelled at the government's own invitation to take part in an academic conference.

Min Zin's brother stated that he had journeyed to Yunnan this summer to attend a conference at Kunming University, invited by a professor he'd known since 2018. He had made previous trips to China without incident, including one for a conference in 2025. This time, however, he was taken into custody almost as soon as he landed in Beijing, with Chinese authorities alleging he is "suspected of spying and endangering Chinese national [security]."

Who is Min Zin?

Min Zin is a Myanmar native and also an expert on his country. He was a student activist during the pro-democracy movement in his youth. Before migrating to the United States, he was compelled to hide for seven years, during which he enrolled in a PhD programme at UC Berkeley. He later became a US citizen after marrying, and then the couple went on to have a teenage daughter.

In 2016, Min Zin returned to Myanmar, where he founded a think tank, the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP). Following the 2021 coup, he and his family relocated to Thailand, where they have remained ever since. His brother, Aung Maw Zin, recalled that the year 2012 was incredibly important in Min Zin’s life, adding that he became both a naturalised US citizen and a father. America gave 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 that "the safety and security of US citizens is the State Department's top priority," adding, "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."

Beijing has yet to respond publicly to Rubio's review, though China's Foreign Ministry stated in June that Min Zin was being held on suspicion of espionage and endangering national security, and that the US consulate in Guangzhou had been informed.