China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday confirmed the arrest of U.S. citizen Min Jin, the head of a Myanmar-focused think tank, saying he was suspected of espionage and endangering China’s national security.Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular press conference: “It is understood that Min Jin has been criminally detained by relevant departments in accordance with the law on suspicion of espionage and endangering China’s national security.”Lin said China had notified the U.S. Consulate General in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou about the arrest.Min Jin, executive director of Myanmar’s Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP), was detained after flying to Kunming, the capital of southwestern China’s Yunnan province, according to three people familiar with the matter. They declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the case.Minjin was arrested about two weeks ago at Kunming Airport, one of the people said, without providing further details.Arrests of U.S. citizens on national security charges are rare in China and often have diplomatic repercussions. The detentions come as Beijing and Washington seek to stabilize relations after years of friction, including during U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China in May.Min Zin was a student activist who participated in Myanmar’s 1988 pro-democracy movement. He later studied political science at the University of California, Berkeley, according to people familiar with the matter.He helped found ISP-Myanmar, which initially operated within Myanmar but moved overseas after the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup plunged Myanmar into a long-running civil war between the military and a range of pro-democracy armed groups and ethnic militias, a conflict closely watched by the Minjin think tank.Recent ISP publications have focused on Myanmar’s political transition following military-organized elections following the inauguration of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing as president, as well as the country’s deteriorating economy.China openly supports Myanmar’s current government, which came to power after the vote and has been widely criticized by Western governments and human rights groups for excluding the main opposition parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s political movement.
