Min Zin was arrested on June 3 after the Chinese government invited him to attend a conference.

China has denied a claim by Washington that it has wrongfully detained a United States citizen.

Rejecting the US designation on Friday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs insisted that Myanmar scholar Min Zin, who has been detained since early June, is a danger to national security. The disagreement adds to the obstacles that Beijing and Washington seek to move past in order to improve relations.

“China is a country governed by the rule of law, and there is no such thing as so-called wrongful detention,” said a spokesman when asked about the case of Min Zin, who leads a think tank that studies Myanmar.

“It is understood that the relevant US individual in question is suspected of engaging in activities that endanger China’s national security, thereby violating Chinese law,” the spokesman added.

The US Department of State designated Min Zin’s detainment as wrongful on Thursday. The move requires that Washington make securing his release a priority.

The designation came weeks before a planned visit to the White House by President Xi Jinping. The Chinese leader’s September 24 trip follows President Donald Trump’s May summit in Beijing.

The US and China have significant differences of opinion regarding the conflicts in the Middle East and trade, among other issues.

‘Top priority’

Min Zin had travelled to Yunnan, China on June 3 to attend an academic conference at the invitation of the Chinese government, the State Department said.

“The safety and security of US citizens is the State Department’s top priority. 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,” the statement added.

Min Zin helped to establish the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, which researches the political, resource and economic dimensions of the civil war in Myanmar that followed the military’s 2021 coup.

China and Myanmar share a border where Beijing has wielded strong influence and is accused of aiding armed organisations that align with its interests.

China backs Myanmar’s military administration, which hosted widely panned elections last year that excluded the country’s main opposition groups, including the party of the ousted former leader Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Before his arrest, Min Zin had lived in Thailand and spent time in both the US and Myanmar.

He is the second US citizen to have been designated as wrongfully detained in China following Youlin Chen. A Chinese American seismologist from Boston, Chinese authorities arrested Chen in 2024.

Chen’s wife, Yufang Rong, said the designation signals that the detainees’ “freedom is a priority for the Trump administration”.