US Scholar Went To China For A Workshop. Then He Stopped Responding

A US citizen and Myanmar scholar was detained in China shortly after arriving in the country for a three-day academic workshop, according to his family and US officials.

Min Zin, who was invited to attend a workshop on economic cooperation, has been held in China since June 3 on allegations of espionage, according to The Washington Post. His family and the US government have denied the allegations.

Min Zin flew from Chiang Mai to Kunming on China Eastern Airlines Flight 9640 on June 3. After landing, he sent a message to his family saying, "Just landed in Kunming". He also messaged the Chinese professor who had invited him to the workshop.

But soon after arriving at the airport, Min Zin stopped responding to messages and calls. He never checked into the hotel he had booked for the trip. His phone location later showed that the device had moved to Lianran District in Anning, around 40 miles from Kunming Airport. A few minutes later, the location information disappeared.

The next day, his wife, Sylvia Zin, received a call from a Chinese number. The caller reportedly mentioned a "compulsory preliminary investigation" and possibly referred to China's Ministry of State Security. When Sylvia asked if Min Zin had been detained, the caller ended the call.

On June 5, the US Consulate General in Guangzhou confirmed to the family that Min Zin had been detained in China's Yunnan province. Chinese authorities accused him of endangering national security.

Min Zin is now being held under a system China calls "residential surveillance in a designated location". Under this system, authorities can keep a person at a secret location for questioning before formally arresting or charging them. Chinese law allows such detention for up to six months.

According to information shared with the family through the US Consulate, Min Zin is being kept in a small, windowless room. The lights remain on throughout the day and he is watched by guards. He is not allowed to go outside or get sunlight.

He is reportedly questioned for around four to six hours every day, and sometimes longer. During the rest of the day, he spends several hours meditating. He has not been allowed to speak with his family or receive letters from them.

Min Zin has met US consular officials three times since his detention. The meetings lasted around 30 minutes and took place in a hotel conference room while Chinese officials watched. The officials were not allowed to discuss his case with him. His family said he appears to be in reasonably good physical condition but has complained of knee pain.

The US government has declared Min Zin to be wrongfully detained and has asked China to release him. A State Department spokesperson said Min Zin was invited to China by official organisations and was entrapped by Chinese security services. The US government says the accusations against him are unfounded.

China, however, says Min Zin is under "criminal coercive measures". A Chinese Embassy spokesperson said his legal rights had been protected.

US officials are still trying to determine exactly why Min Zin was detained. They believe his past as a student activist in Myanmar and his academic work supported by US government grants may have led to the attention of Chinese security agencies.

Min Zin was born in Myanmar and later moved to the US, where he became a naturalised citizen. He has studied Myanmar's political changes and ethnic conflicts. He was also involved in protests against Myanmar's military during the 1988 uprising.

Min Zin had previously travelled to China without problems. He attended a Chinese government-supported academic conference in October 2025. His family therefore had no reason to expect trouble when he accepted an invitation from a Chinese professor to attend the June workshop.

Min Zin is now one of two Americans officially designated by the US as wrongfully detained in China. The other is Youlin Chen, a Beijing-born American seismologist who has been held since November 2024 on espionage allegations that his family and the US government also reject.