US designates Min Zin wrongfully detained in China: What we know?
WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department announced Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has determined that U.S. citizen and Myanmar scholar Min Zin is “wrongfully detained” in China, following a review of the circumstances surrounding his June 3 detention in Yunnan. The State Department called for his release.
Min Zin, executive director of ISP-Myanmar, traveled to China after receiving an invitation from a professor at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences whom he had known for several years. Chinese authorities have accused Min Zin of spying and endangering national security.
His case has drawn attention to China’s strategic interests in Myanmar, U.S.–China relations, and concerns about the safety of scholars conducting research on politically sensitive issues.
Analysts have offered different assessments of what may be behind his detention, but important questions remain unanswered.
MGM Explainer examines what we know, what analysts are saying, and what remains unclear.
