China arrests US academic Min Zin on suspicion of espionage

China has arrested a US scholar, Min Zin, on suspicion of spying. The ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson, Lin Jian, said Min Zin was suspected of "engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security." Arrests of US citizens on national security grounds are uncommon.

The case comes just a month after Donald Trump met the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, in Beijing as the two countries aim to reset their tumultuous relationship. A Burmese activist who spoke anonymously for fear of arrest said Min Zin disappeared on 3 June after travelling to Kunming in Yunnan province for a conference, and had visited China many times before.

The activist said he had been a student activist in Myanmar’s 1988 uprising and later sought asylum in the US, and was not currently involved in direct activism work. Min Zin founded the thinktank ISP Myanmar, which in recent years has written about Chinese foreign policy and trade with Myanmar on China’s south-west border.

China, Kunming, Yunnan

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