Wife of American scholar wrongfully detained in China wants Trump to press Xi to release him

September 23, 2026 / 8:47 AM EDT / CBS News

For over 100 days, Sylvia Zin has not been allowed to see or speak with her husband Min Zin, a U.S. citizen and scholar whose work focuses on Myanmar. She says he is being held without charge in China at a detention facility that is referred to by human rights groups as a "black site."

In an interview with CBS News, Sylvia Zin shared that the Chinese Ministry of State Security, or MSS, has not formally charged him with a crime nor given him a trial date.

"They just said he's under investigation for endangering national security. That's all we know," she tearfully explained. "He's not a spy. He's not doing anything wrong."

She shared the terror of the first hours of Min's disappearance. His last message to her was a brief text on June 3 to tell her that he had landed in the Chinese city of Kunming. He had traveled there from his home in Thailand for an academic conference at the invitation of a Chinese professor. That night, Sylvia Zin received calls from Min Zin's worried colleagues.

"We started calling the immigration, the luggage — you know…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/