US designates academic Min Zin as wrongfully detained in China

Case adds friction weeks before Trump-Xi summit, with Washington pressing Beijing over Americans held in the country

The US State Department said on Thursday that it had determined after a detailed investigation that Min Zin , an American political analyst of Chinese descent detained by Beijing last month, was being improperly held.

That formal designation shifts the case from a State Department consular issue to one handled by its presidential office dealing with hostage affairs.

Thursday’s terse statement, which said the decision was made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adds another irritant to the fraught bilateral relationship just weeks before Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to hold a summit in Washington.

“Secretary Rubio has determined that US citizen Min Zin is wrongfully detained in China,” the agency said in a release attributed to Assistant State Secretary Dylan Johnson. “This follows an extensive review of the circumstances surrounding his June 3 detention in Yunnan, China, where Mr Zin had travelled to attend an academic conference at the invitation of the Chinese government.”

The US agency further noted that this is the second wrongful detention designation involving China, following the case of Youlin Chen, a seismologist arrested in November 2024 at Beijing International Airport as he prepared to fly home to Boston.

“The safety and security of US citizens is the State Department’s top priority,” the State Department added. “We will continue to advocate for Mr Zin and call for the release of all US citizens who are arbitrarily detained or exit banned in China.”