China’s Foreign Ministry has confirmed the arrest of a U.S.-based scholar and Myanmar affairs expert, accusing him of espionage and activities that endangered China’s national security.
The scholar, U Min Zin, was reportedly detained in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming earlier this month while attending a meeting.
Chinese authorities have provided few details regarding the allegations, making the case one of the rare instances in which a U.S.-linked academic has been arrested on national security charges in China.
Reports indicate that Min Zin disappeared after arriving in Kunming, a city near China’s border with Myanmar, before Chinese officials later confirmed his detention.
The arrest comes weeks after a high-profile meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, which was viewed as a positive step in relations between the two countries.
It also precedes an expected visit to China by Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of Myanmar’s military government.
China maintains close political and economic ties with Myanmar’s ruling junta, which seized power in a military coup in 2021.
Min Zin is widely known for his involvement in Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement during the 1988 uprising against military rule.
Following the crackdown on activists, he fled Myanmar and later pursued studies in the United States before returning to Myanmar in 2010.
He currently serves as Executive Director of the Myanmar Institute for Strategic and Policy Studies, a Thailand-based think tank that examines Myanmar’s political landscape and China’s role in the country.
According to reports, he is also a doctoral student at University of California, Berkeley.
Sources familiar with the matter said Min Zin was arrested at the airport in Kunming on June 3.
Family members are reportedly seeking information regarding his condition and have been in contact with U.S. consular officials in China.
The scholar had been scheduled to speak at a conference in Kathmandu, Nepal, later this month.
Neither Chinese authorities nor U.S. officials have publicly disclosed further details about the case.
The detention is expected to draw attention from academic, diplomatic and human rights circles amid continuing concerns over national security-related arrests in China.
