The First Phone Call: What to Do in the First 24 Hours After You Hear the News

The call usually comes at a bad hour, from a number you don't recognize, in broken English or through a translating friend: "Your [son / brother / husband] has been detained in China." The next 24 hours will shape the entire case more than any other day. This is the checklist we walk overseas families through, one item at a time.

1. Step 1: Verify Before You Act

Before anything else, establish three facts:

1. Is the person actually in custody? A genuine detention produces a detention notice (拘留通知书) — a paper document from the public security bureau stating the suspected offense and place of custody, sent to the family or employer.
2. Where is he held? The name of the detention center (看守所) and the city. Not "somewhere in Shanghai" — the specific facility.
3. On what suspicion? The notice names the offense. That single line determines everything about the next steps.

If you have the notice, photograph it and send it to your lawyer. It tells us the city, the charge, the case number, and the unit handling the case — the four facts that start real work.

2. The Detention Scam: Read This Twice

3. Five Things Not to Do

1. Don't wire money to anyone you found through the crisis. Intermediaries promising "connections" for release are the most common fraud against overseas families — and using one can contaminate the real defense.
2. Don't delete chats or "clean up" the person's phone and accounts remotely. Deleting evidence looks like destroying evidence. Preserve everything; sort it out with counsel.
3. Don't discuss the case in writing with other people. Assume messages may be read. Coordinate through your lawyer.
4. Don't make public posts. Social media statements about the case — including "he's innocent!" — have a way of reaching the file.
5. Don't book a flight to China in the first 24 hours. Families who fly over without a plan often spend days and thousands in hotels learning what this page tells you. Come with a lawyer already engaged.

4. Four Things to Do in the First 24 Hours

1. Collect the documents: detention notice if issued, his passport scan, visa, employment contract or enrollment papers, and any messages you received from him in the last days.
2. Engage a licensed Chinese criminal defense lawyer — not tomorrow. The first lawyer meeting should happen inside days, and early engagement is what makes that possible.
3. Notify your consulate (see our guide on consular help) — for welfare visits and notification rights. The lawyer, not the consulate, handles the case.
4. Start a single written timeline: dates, times, what was said, by whom. Families remember fragments under stress; a written log becomes evidence material later.

5. What to Expect From the First Lawyer Contact

A serious defense team will ask you specific questions — charge, city, date, facility, health conditions, medication needs — and give you a concrete plan for the first week: the first meeting, the release application, and the non-arrest strategy inside the 37-day window. If the first "lawyer" you speak to asks for money before asking a single question about the facts, end the conversation.

Questions We Hear From Families