‘Suspected of espionage’: China confirms arrest of US citizen

China’s foreign ministry on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of Min Zin, a US citizen who heads a Myanmar-focused think tank, saying he was suspected of espionage and of endangering China’s national security.“It is understood that Min Zin has been placed under criminal detention by the relevant authorities in accordance with the law on suspicion of engaging in espionage and endangering China’s national security,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a regular news briefing.Lin said China had notified the US consulate general in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou of the arrest.Min Zin, the executive director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP)-Myanmar, was detained after flying into Kunming, the capital of China’s southwestern Yunnan province, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the case.One of the people said Min Zin was arrested at Kunming airport about two weeks ago, without providing further details.Arrests of US citizens on national security charges are rare in China and often carry diplomatic implications. The detention comes as Beijing and Washington seek to stabilise ties following years of friction, including during a visit by US President Donald Trump to China in May.

Min Zin is a former student activist who took part in Myanmar’s 1988 democracy movement. He later studied political science at the University of California, Berkeley, according to people familiar with his background.He helped establish ISP-Myanmar, which initially operated inside Myanmar but relocated overseas after the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The coup plunged Myanmar into a prolonged civil war between the military and a range of pro-democracy armed groups and ethnic militias, a conflict closely tracked by Min Zin’s think tank.Recent ISP publications have focused on Myanmar’s political transition following an election organised by the military, after junta chief Min Aung Hlaing assumed the presidency, as well as on the country’s deteriorating economy.China has publicly backed Myanmar’s current administration, which took office after a vote widely criticised by Western governments and rights groups for excluding major opposition parties, including Suu Kyi’s political movement.