The detention of U.S. citizen Min Zin on espionage charges is the latest evidence that Beijing’s campaign to silence dissidents and critics abroad is expanding in scope and audacity, writes expert@JoshKurlantzick. Without a forceful U.S. response, China’s willingness to target academics, activists, and diaspora communities on foreign soil is likely to grow, he argues.

The detention of U.S. citizen Min Zin on espionage charges is the latest evidence that Beijing’s campaign to silence dissidents and critics abroad is expanding in scope and audacity, writes expert @JoshKurlantzick. Without a forceful U.S. response, China’s willingness to target academics, activists, and diaspora communities on foreign soil is likely to grow, he argues.

By Song Wunna | August 15, 2026

The detention of U.S. citizen Min Zin on espionage charges is the latest evidence that Beijing’s campaign to silence dissidents and critics abroad is expanding in scope and audacity, writes expert
@JoshKurlantzick. Without a forceful U.S. response, China’s willingness to target academics, activists, and diaspora communities on foreign soil is likely to grow, he argues.