Arrested Shandong human rights lawyer Yu Kai transferred to Qingdao No. 1 Detention Center

(Information Center of the China Human Rights Defense Network) On April 9, 2026, this outlet learned that arrested Shandong human rights lawyer Yu Kai had been transferred to Qingdao No. 1 Detention Center.

Lawyer Lan Qingzhou announced today: “I just met with lawyer Yu Kai at Qingdao No. 1 Detention Center. He was brought back by the Laoshan police in Qingdao last night and sent to the detention center. Jurisdiction over the case has been changed. The accommodation conditions are much better than those at Xicheng Detention Center. He is in good condition and asked me to convey his thanks for the attention from friends in all sectors.”

Profile of Yu Kai: Born in 1970, he is from Weihai, Shandong Province; deputy director of the Criminal Legal Risk Prevention Professional Committee of the Shandong Lawyers Association; former part-time professor at the School of Law of Qingdao University of Science and Technology, master's supervisor and director of its Criminal Defense Research Center; director of Shandong Xiaolin Law Firm; and a human rights lawyer.

From 1994 to 2003, he worked as a police officer in the economic crime investigation and legal affairs departments of public security organs; later, because he could not stand the various sordid practices within the system, he resolutely left the police force, and in 2004 became a practicing lawyer. Since then, he has devoted himself over the long term to the construction of the rule of law and the protection of the rights of disadvantaged groups; initially, he served as director of the Criminal Research Center at Dacheng (Qingdao) Law Firm, while also serving as a member of the Criminal Committee of the All China Lawyers Association and deputy director of the Criminal Legal Risk Prevention Professional Committee of the Shandong Lawyers Association; starting in 2013, he was successively appointed part-time professor, master's supervisor and director of the Research Center for Corporate Crime at the School of Law of Qingdao University of Science and Technology; in 2015, he was also invited to serve as a visiting scholar at the University of Akron in the United States; in June 2019, as a senior legal practitioner, he co-authored and published the legal book Practical Analysis of Corporate Crime; in September 2021, he began operating Shandong Xiaolin Law Firm independently and served as its director, with services covering criminal defense, representation in criminal-civil crossover cases, and criminal risk prevention and control, among other areas.

In August 2023, because he and four other lawyers/legal workers—Lan Qingzhou, Ma Xiaolin, Yu Zhaoyan and Zhang Wenpeng—jointly submitted relevant legislative recommendations to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (mainly recommending the abolition of the “crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble”) in his real name, and affixed the official seal of “Shandong Xiaolin Law Firm,” he touched a sensitive nerve at the Qingdao Municipal Justice Bureau. As a result, they were soon accused of “improperly hyping cases,” and his law firm was ordered to suspend operations for rectification for six months, while he personally was suspended from practicing for one year; it was not until January 2025 that his firm completed its rectification period, and he did not resume practicing until July of that year.

On March 26, 2026, after reporting Qingdao Municipal Justice Bureau Director Deng Huanli by his real name, he publicly held up a sign in front of the gate of the Ministry of Justice in Beijing. The content of the sign directly accused Deng Huanli of multiple serious offenses, including “abuse of power,” “dereliction of duty by failing to transfer criminal cases for prosecution for personal gain,” and “having a huge amount of property of unknown origin”; during the reporting process, he lawfully submitted Report on the Illegal Practice of Establishing a List of “Lawyers under Key Control”, and put forward reasonable demands for “autonomy for bar associations, freedom to pay fees” and “abolishing annual inspections of lawyers' licenses.” However, not only did his report fail to receive a friendly and reasonable reply or response, he was instead inexplicably taken by Beijing's Xicheng district police to the local Fuxuijing Police Station and detained, and the following day was criminally detained on suspicion of the “crime of disturbing public order”; after learning that he had suddenly lost contact, several lawyers in Beijing went to Fuxuijing Police Station to inquire about the situation. Unexpectedly, the incident subsequently escalated, and several of the lawyers who went there, including Lu Siwei, Bao Longjun and Wang Yu, were also taken away or summoned by police in succession for a time; the incident quickly attracted a high level of attention from the outside world. Public opinion called on the authorities not to characterize people who file reports (complaints) as “disturbing public order” simply because they raise issues touching on the institutional level, particularly issues involving management mechanisms, and urged that he be released and regain his freedom as soon as possible. He had previously been detained at Beijing Xicheng Detention Center. He is currently detained at Qingdao No. 1 Detention Center.

This outlet will continue to follow developments in lawyer Yu Kai's case.