China rejects US claim that Myanmar analyst wrongfully detained

What the report says

China has rejected a US claim that Myanmar scholar Min Zin is being wrongfully detained, saying instead that he is suspected of threatening national security. According to Al Jazeera’s report, the Chinese foreign ministry made the statement on Friday after the US State Department designated Min Zin as wrongfully detained a day earlier, a move that elevates efforts in Washington to secure his release.

Min Zin, who leads a think tank focused on Myanmar, was arrested in Yunnan on June 3 after travelling there to attend an academic conference at the invitation of the Chinese government, the State Department said. Beijing disputed the US characterization, saying China is governed by law and that there is no such thing as wrongful detention. The ministry said the case involves a Chinese law violation, though it did not provide further public details in the article.

The dispute comes at a sensitive time in US-China relations, with the two governments already at odds over trade and other international issues. Al Jazeera reported that the designation also comes weeks before an expected White House visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The article also notes broader context: Min Zin co-founded the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, which studies the political and economic effects of Myanmar’s post-coup civil war, and he is the second US citizen to be listed as wrongfully detained in China.