Family members of detained Myanmar scholar Min Zin, a naturalized U.S. citizen and executive director of the Institute for Strategy and Policy (ISP-Myanmar), welcomed the U.S. government’s decision to designate him as “wrongfully detained” after he was arrested in China on June 3.
“When I heard the news, I teared up a little bit,” his brother Aung Min Zaw told CNN, adding that the designation sends a clear signal to Beijing that securing his brother’s release has become a top priority for Washington.
“We are doing everything we can to bring you back home with the family,” Aung Min Zaw directed at his brother who Chinese authorities accused of “engaging in espionage” and “endangering national security”—allegations rejected by his family, his organization, Human Rights Watch and Fortify Rights.
“We humbly ask that the U.S. government continues to keep Min Zin’s case as a top priority,” ISP-Myanmar stated in a press release on Aug. 20. “It sends a clear message [to China].”
ISP-Myanmar urged Washington to maintain pressure on Beijing, particularly ahead of the anticipated meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi next month.
Min Zin, a former 1988 student pro-democracy movement from Myanmar, was granted asylum in the U.S. He later became a U.S. citizen, pursued doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, and in 2016 co-founded ISP-Myanmar.
Following the Myanmar military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, ISP-Myanmar relocated its headquarters to Thailand.
