U.S. designates American citizen held by China as wrongfully detained
Min Zin is the second American academic to be designated as wrongfully detained in recent months.
Updated on: August 20, 2026 / 9:22 AM EDT / CBS News
Washington — American citizen Min Zin has been legally designated by the U.S. State Department as wrongfully detained by China.
"Secretary Rubio has formally designated U.S. citizen Min Zin as wrongfully detained," Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said Thursday on X. "We call on Beijing to release all U.S. citizens arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China. The safety and security of U.S. citizens is the State Department's top priority."
This designation follows "an extensive review of the circumstances" surrounding Min Zin's June 3 detention in Yunnan, a province in southwestern China, the State Department said, adding that he was invited there by the Chinese government for an academic conference.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in June that Min Zin was being held on suspicion "of engaging in espionage and endangering China's national security," without providing further details.