The U.S. State Department yesterday designated Myanmar scholar and U.S. citizen Min Zin as “wrongfully detained,” two months after his arrest in China on espionage charges.

The move was announced by Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, who said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had made the designation after “an extensive review of the circumstances” surrounding Min Zin’s arrest on June 3.

“The safety and security of U.S. citizens is the State Department’s top priority,” Johnson said. “We will continue to advocate for Mr. Zin and call for the release of all U.S. citizens who are arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China.”

The announcement follows a report by Reuters news agency about the designation, which cited a senior State Department official.

The State Department said that Min Zin is the second American who is wrongfully detained in China after Youlin Chen, a Chinese-born American seismologist from Boston who has published U.S.-funded work on North Korean nuclear tests. He was arrested in November 2024 and designated wrongfully detained by Rubio in March.

Min Zin, the executive director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar (ISP-Myanmar), disappeared on June 3 while visiting the city of Kunming in Yunnan province for a conference.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed his arrest a week later, stating that Min Zin, a former student activist who participated in pro-democracy protests in 1988, had “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.”

The senior State Department official told Reuters that Min Zin was detained inside the airport and has been “subjected to repeated interrogations, isolation and detention conditions” for nearly 11 weeks.

“One minute his colleagues and family were engaging with him on the phone – exchanging updates on his arrival time and plans in China – and the next minute communication was lost,” the official told the news agency. “For 48 hours, his loved ones did not know where he had gone, if he was alive, or who could have taken him.”

A graduate in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, Min Zin in 2016 established ISP-Myanmar, which describes itself as “an independent, non-partisan, and non-governmental think tank” that “supports the advancement of democracy, good governance, federal principles and practices, and fundamental human rights.”

ISP-Myanmar was initially based in Yangon but moved outside the country ​following the military coup of February 2021, which abruptly closed off the space available for independent media outlets and civil society groups. It is currently based in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, a long-time hub for Myanmar exiles.

The exact reason for Min Zin’s arrest remains vague, but under his leadership, ISP-Myanmar has published reports analyzing China policy toward Myanmar, including its response to the 2021 coup, the impact of Myanmar’s conflicts on Chinese infrastructure investments, and China’s influence in areas of Kachin State with large deposits of rare earth minerals.

The State Department’s designation of Min Zin as “wrongfully detained” officially makes securing Min Zin’s ‌release a top U.S. priority. It also comes as the U.S. government prepares to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on September 24.

ISP-Myanmar and human rights groups have called for Min Zin’s release, and such calls are likely to increase in the run-up to Xi’s visit.

“The Chinese government has repeatedly invoked national security as a justification for restricting fundamental freedoms and silencing critical voices,” Benedict Rogers, a senior director at the advocacy group Fortify Rights, said in a statement on July 1. “The detention of Min Zin raises serious concerns not only for his rights and well-being, but also for scholars, researchers, journalists, and those engaged in public affairs.”

The Chinese leader’s visit gives President Donald Trump an opportunity to press him for Min Zin’s release, but whether his fate will be a priority for President Donald Trump remains uncertain.