Chinese authorities said they arrested a Northern California scholar earlier this month, accusing him of espionage and endangering national security.<\/p>\n
U Min Zin was taken into custody on June 3 at Kunming Changshui International Airport in Yunnan Province, southwestern China, according to a New York Times report<\/a>. Details about the arrest are still unknown. Min Zin was traveling for academic purposes. <\/p>\n Earlier this week, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a news conference that the United States Consulate General in Guangzhou was notified of Min Zin\u2019s arrest, the Times said.<\/p>\n The arrest came after President Trump met with Xi Jinping<\/a> in China to stabilize U.S.-China relations and manage disputes<\/a> over Taiwan, Iran and regional security.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are aware of reports regarding a U.S. citizen detained in China,\u201d a State Department official told SFGATE<\/a>. \u201cWhenever a U.S. citizen is detained, we work to provide the appropriate consular assistance. However, under federal privacy law, we are unable to comment further at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n Min Zin is a doctoral student at UC Berkeley, where he also obtained a master\u2019s in political science and government, according to his LinkedIn page<\/a>. His studies center on Myanmar and Chinese foreign policy, according to his published works<\/a>.<\/p>\n He is a founder and executive director of ISP Myanmar<\/a>, a Thailand-based think tank focused on Myanmar and regional policy issues. Min Zin was also a student activist in Burma\u2019s 1988 democracy movement, according to the Journal of Democracy<\/a>.<\/p>\n