Find out what measure has been taken and where the person is held, contact your embassy or consulate, and appoint a China-licensed lawyer as soon as possible. Family members usually cannot visit before trial, so the lawyer is your main source of information.
Ask for a lawyer, an interpreter and contact with your embassy or consulate; answer truthfully but carefully; and read every record before you sign it. Your family can appoint a China-licensed lawyer for you, and the police must pass on your own request for one.
Not in the Miranda sense. Chinese law requires a suspect to answer questions about the case truthfully, but allows them to refuse questions unrelated to the case, and prohibits forcing anyone to prove their own guilt. Confessions obtained by torture, threats or unlawful detention must be excluded.
Yes. After a foreign national is detained or arrested, the provincial police must notify the embassy or consulate, within the time set by any consular treaty, and must promptly arrange consular visits. Consular officers can check on welfare and help the family, but cannot act as defense counsel.
No. In Chinese criminal proceedings, only a lawyer licensed in China and practicing at a Chinese law firm can act as defense counsel. A foreign lawyer can help the family find a Chinese lawyer and stay in touch with them, but cannot act in the case. Close relatives can appoint a Chinese lawyer from abroad.
As a rule, no. Chinese law says a foreign national who is a criminal suspect or defendant, or is serving a sentence, may not leave China. The ban is enforced when the police or court decides to restrict exit and notifies the border authorities, and they can also hold your passport. Unresolved civil cases, unpaid wages and unpaid taxes can also lead to an exit ban.
On paper, a confession is one piece of evidence and cannot convict on its own. In practice, it is often the core of the case: investigators work hard to obtain one, it is very difficult to retract once recorded, and having it excluded is difficult too. That is why the first interrogations matter so much.
Yes, it is possible. The up to 37 days between criminal detention and the procuratorate's decision on arrest are the key window to seek release on bail (qubao houshen) or to argue against arrest. Foreign nationals can be released on bail too, usually on condition that they hand over their passport and stay in the city.
Yes. After arrest, the person, their close relatives and their lawyer can apply to change the coercive measure or ask the procuratorate to review whether continued custody is necessary. The outcome depends on health, the progress of the case, admission of guilt, compensation and similar factors.
When one side is alleged to have intended from the outset to take the other's money or property, the dispute can become contract fraud or a related offense. The line between breach of contract and crime turns on intent, deception and what happened to the money. Police are not supposed to intervene in ordinary economic disputes, and there are ways to challenge improper cases.
If the matter is urgent, call or message on WeChat. You can also send an enquiry describing where the matter is, its current stage and your main question.