Washington: The US State Department on Thursday declared that American citizen Min Zin is "wrongfully detained" in China, urging Beijing to release the academic without delay.

According to Anadolu Agency, Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson announced in a statement that Secretary Rubio has officially determined Min Zin's detention in China to be wrongful. The designation was based on a thorough review of the circumstances surrounding Min's arrest on June 3 in Yunnan, a province in Southwestern China. Min had traveled to the region at the invitation of the Chinese government to participate in an academic conference.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Lin Jian, previously stated that Min is "suspected of spying and endangering China's national security." Min Zin, who is a graduate student at UC Berkeley and the founder of a research group based in Myanmar, went missing in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, which shares a border with Myanmar.

This incident marks the second designation of "wrongfully detained" by the US in China, following the case of Youlin Chen. Johnson emphasized, "We will continue to advocate for Mr. Zin and call for the release of all US citizens who are arbitrarily detained or face exit bans in China."

In a related context, US citizen Kai Li was convicted of espionage in China in 2016, but was released by Beijing in 2024 as part of a prisoner exchange with Washington, as reported by The New York Times. Another American, Sandy Phan-Gillis, was expelled from China in 2017 after more than two years of detention on espionage charges.

The New York Times further reported that approximately 200 American citizens are either detained or face exit bans in China, which includes individuals imprisoned on drug charges and others involved in commercial or financial disputes.