On 3 June 2026, Min Zin, a US citizen and founder of the Myanmar-focused think tank ISP-Myanmar, which conducts research on China’s coercive influence in Myanmar as part of its work, was detained upon arrival at the airport in Yunnan province after traveling there on invitation of a Chinese academic institution. He was held incommunicado in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, until the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs publicly confirmed his detention on suspicion of ‘espionage and endangering national security’ on 12 June. This reportedly came only after diplomats and colleagues, speaking anonymously for fear of reprisal, raised concerns with journalists about his disappearance. His detention came just weeks before the Myanmar junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, visited China. ARTICLE 19 is alarmed at this apparent reprisal against an independent researcher and calls on the Chinese government to immediately and unconditionally release Min Zin, or, at the very least, disclose the evidence behind these vague allegations and guarantee his right to due process.
Min Zin was a student activist in Myanmar’s 1988 pro-democracy uprising, after which he fled to Thailand to avoid the military government’s crackdown, and later moved to the United States, where he completed his PhD in political science. In 2016, after returning to Myanmar he founded the Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar), which,following the 2021 military coup he later relocated from Myanmar to operate out of Thailand. Among its priorities, ISP-Myanmar has researched China-Myanmar relations, including on issues of resource extraction, cross-border trade, and China’s support for the Myanmar junta.
Min Zin’s detention follows a documented trend in China of exploiting espionage charges to clamp down on free expression and arbitrarily detain scholars and journalists or to wield the detention of foreign nationals as a tool of its international relations.
China’s 2023 Counter-Espionage Law defines national security offences in such a vague and overbroad manner that authorities are able to label individuals a threat to the state in almost any context, using his or her contacts, research, or exchange of information to target them. Journalists, academics, and think tank researchers are at heightened risk under the law for collaboration with overseas contacts, which sends a further chilling effect on the freedom of expression and academic freedom.
The amended law took effect in July 2023 following a series of raids on the offices of several international consulting firms, including Bain & Company, in multiple cities across China. In 2024 Australian writer Yang Hengjun received a suspended death sentence on espionage allegations.
In 2018, China detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, in retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Meng Wanzhou, the Chief Financial Officer of Huawei and the daughter of the company’s founder, Ren Zhengfei. At the time Canadian authorities had detained Meng Wanzhou on the request of the United States over Huawei’s Iran sanctions evasion felonies. She later reached a plea deal with the US allowing her to return to China. In 2021, China convicted Kovrig and Spavor with espionage charges under the previous law, handing down lengthy prison sentences before releasing them in exchange for Meng Wanzhou’s safe return. The two men, who spent over 1,000 days in detention in China, have become emblematic of China’s manipulated use of espionage charges and ‘hostage diplomacy’ more widely.
Min Zin’s detention follows a high-profile meeting between US President Donald Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping in mid-May, but also ahead of Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s state visit to China between 15 and 19 June. In a bilateral statement released on 17 June, the two leaders committed to deepening China-Myanmar partnership, including the safeguarding of ‘national sovereignty, security, and development interests’. This timing, coupled with Min Zin’s research on China’s adverse influence in Myanmar, raises the possibilityof Beijing being politically motivated to silence an independent researcher on the relations between the two countries.
The detention of a foreign researcher on the invitation of a Chinese academic institution should also be treated as a form of transnational repression that risks silencing academic freedom on and in relation to China’s international relations.
Reportedly, while Min Zin has been allowed consular access with US officials, as is required under international law, his whereabouts have remained unknown. According to Human Rights Watch, although the US State Department has acknowledged the arrest, it has not made further public comments on China’s actions nor formally declared his detention as ‘wrongful’. A formal designation of wrongful detention would transfer his case from a consular matter to the mandate of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs, which would further help in escalating his case with more senior Chinese officials. These are important steps in securing a timelier release.
ARTICLE 19 urges the US government, academic and research institutions, and the wider international community to press publicly and consistently for reassurances of Min Zin’s wellbeing, for due process, and for his unconditional release. Noting that Min Zin is a US citizen, in particular, the US government should escalate his case as wrongful detention.