(BEIJING, CHINA — Nov. 4, 2026) For former prisoners, steady work can be essential to rebuilding their lives. But Christian human rights defender Xu Yan faces another obstacle in Beijing, northern China, as authorities continue refusing to process her legal qualification application.
On Nov. 2, her husband, human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng, reported on X that Xu had received an Oct. 26 notice from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice reaffirming its refusal to issue her a legal professional qualification certificate.
The bureau’s two-page notice confirmed that Xu passed China’s national legal qualification examination in 2022, before her criminal conviction. Nevertheless, officials cited that subsequent conviction as grounds for rejecting her application, a decision Yu argues misapplies the relevant regulation.
The couple were detained April 13, 2023, after police intercepted them while traveling to an event organized by the European Union’s delegation in Beijing. Both are Christians who were baptized in 2022, and Yu has represented cases involving religious freedom.
On Oct. 29, 2024, a court in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, eastern China, convicted both of “inciting subversion of state power.” Yu received three years in prison, and Xu received one year and nine months. Xu was released in January 2025, while Yu completed his sentence on April 13, 2026.
Their imprisonment also took a toll on their son, who had turned 18 shortly before their arrests. ChinaAid previously reported that he suffered serious psychological distress while both parents remained incarcerated.
Legal qualification dispute
The dispute began Aug. 14, when Xu applied for legal professional qualification. The bureau refused to accept her application, citing a regulation barring people convicted of intentional crimes from registering for the national legal qualification examination.
Yu argues that Xu was eligible when she registered for and passed the examination in 2022, before her criminal conviction. He also cited Article 18 of the examination regulations, which governs applications for legal professional qualification.
On Sept. 28, Xu and Yu visited the Ministry of Justice and submitted a request for administrative reconsideration of the bureau’s refusal. Yu said ministry staff accepted the materials but provided neither a written receipt nor formal notice of acceptance.
The following day, Yu reported on X that he had filed complaints with the Ministry of Justice, Beijing Municipal People’s Government, and Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People’s Congress. He accused the justice bureau and its director of “abuse of power.”
The Sept. 29 complaint and accompanying postal receipts document the allegations and mailings to all three agencies. The bureau’s subsequent Oct. 26 notice responded to Xu’s petition, reiterating its position that the refusal was lawful and appropriate.
Pastor Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, stated, “The prison sentence has ended, but invisible punishment continues through the operation of the system. Ms. Xu’s right to employment has been taken away, and the excessive reach of administrative power is turning the protections of the rule of law into selectively granted rights.”