UC Berkeley doctoral candidate arrested in China on espionage allegations

A UC Berkeley doctoral candidate and prominent Myanmar scholar has been arrested in China on suspicion of espionage, according to Chinese officials.

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China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed Friday that U Min Zin, a U.S. citizen and the executive director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, had been detained after authorities accused him of “engaging in espionage activities that endanger China’s national security.”

The confirmation came during a regularly scheduled news conference in Beijing, when Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Chinese authorities had notified the U.S. Consulate General in Guangzhou about the arrest, according to reporting by the New York Times.

Min Zin, who studies China’s influence in Myanmar and Southeast Asia, is also a doctoral student at the UC Berkeley, according to the Centre for Social Innovation and Foreign Policy. UC Berkeley spokesperson Janet Gilmore told SFGATE via email that they are “seeking to verify” the doctoral candidate’s affiliation with the university.

A longtime advocate for democracy in Myanmar, Min Zin emerged as a student activist during the country’s 1988 pro-democracy movement. After fleeing military rule, he later settled in the United States, pursued academic work and eventually returned to Myanmar following political reforms. He currently leads ISP-Myanmar, a Thailand-based research organization that examines Myanmar’s politics and China’s role in the country, including Beijing’s economic, diplomatic and strategic interests. 

The U.S. Department of State acknowledged reports of the detention but declined to discuss the case in detail.

“We are aware of reports regarding a U.S. citizen detained in China,” a State Department official said in a statement provided to SFGATE. “The Department of State has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans. Whenever a U.S. citizen is detained, we work to provide the appropriate consular assistance. However, under federal privacy law, we are unable to comment further at this time.”

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The New York Times reported that Min Zin was detained in early June while traveling through the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming, near the border with Myanmar. Agence France-Presse, citing multiple sources, reported that he had been attending a meeting in Kunming before his arrest at the airport on June 3.

Few details about the allegations have been made public. China’s government has not released additional information about the case beyond the accusation that Min Zin endangered national security.

Myanmar remains closely tied to China under the military government that seized power in a 2021 coup.