The Trump administration has formally declared an American academic being held in China to be wrongfully detained, intensifying pressure on Beijing to release him just weeks before President Donald Trump is expected to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio determined that Min Zin, a U.S. citizen and scholar, is “wrongfully detained” following a State Department examination of the circumstances surrounding his June 3 detention in China’s Yunnan province, the department announced Thursday.
According to the State Department, Zin had traveled to China to participate in an academic conference after receiving an invitation from the Chinese government.
The designation makes Zin one of two Americans whom the State Department currently considers wrongfully detained in China. The other is Dr. Youlin Chen, a Chinese-born American seismologist from Boston.
“The safety and security of U.S. citizens is the State Department’s top priority,” Assistant Secretary Dylan Johnson said in a statement. “We will continue to advocate for Mr. Zin and call for the release of all U.S. citizens who are arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China.”
Zin was taken into custody at the airport shortly after entering China and has spent nearly 11 weeks detained, during which he has repeatedly been questioned and kept in isolation, a senior State Department official told Reuters.
“One minute his colleagues and family were engaging with him on the phone – exchanging updates on his arrival time and plans in China – and the next minute communication was lost,” the official said.
For approximately two days after Zin disappeared, relatives and colleagues had no information about his whereabouts, whether he was safe or even which authorities had taken him into custody, according to the official.
Chinese authorities in Yunnan subsequently informed the U.S. Embassy that Zin was the subject of a criminal investigation involving allegations that he had endangered China’s national security, Reuters reported.
China’s Foreign Ministry acknowledged Zin’s arrest in June, saying he was suspected of espionage and activities threatening Chinese national security.
Chinese officials have rejected U.S. accusations that Beijing engages in wrongful detention, maintaining that criminal cases involving foreigners are handled in accordance with Chinese law.
The State Department’s wrongful-detention designation could significantly raise the profile of Zin’s case and allow additional U.S. government attention and resources to be directed toward efforts to secure his freedom.
The move also places the dispute squarely on the U.S.-China diplomatic agenda ahead of Xi’s anticipated Sept. 24 visit to the White House, where he is expected to meet with President Trump.
Zin is known for his work on Burma and Chinese foreign policy and heads the Institute for Strategy and Policy, a think tank specializing in Burma. He participated in Burma’s 1988 pro-democracy uprising before eventually obtaining asylum in the United States.
The State Department said Washington will continue pressing Beijing to release Zin while also advocating for other Americans whom the U.S. says are being arbitrarily detained in China or subjected to restrictions preventing them from leaving the country.
{Matzav.com}
