In mid-April 2022, woman human rights defender and journalist Huang Xueqin’s close friend and lawyer Wan Miaomiao was shown a letter, dated 16 April 2022 and supposedly signed by the human rights defender, indicating that Huang Xueqin has dismissed her as her defence lawyer.

Wan Miaomiao was hired by Huang Xueqin’s family in late March 2022. The woman human rights defender herself affixed her signature on her family’s letter appointing Wan Miaomiao to be her defence lawyer on 2 April 2022. Wan Miaomiao also represented Huang Xueqin in 2019 when she was detained in Guangzhou.

On 22 April 2022, Wan Miaomiao made an online appointment to meet Huang Xueqin at a Guangzhou detention centre in order to verify the authenticity of the dismissal letter. However, the detention centre told the lawyer that she could not see Huang Xueqin due to COVID-19 reasons. Wan Miaomiao also asked the Guangzhou Municipal Procuratorate to arrange for her to review the case files. Despite satisfying all COVID-19-related requirements at the Procuratorate, she was told she could not review the case files because her appointment by Huang Xueqin’s immediate family has been deemed invalid.

The authenticity of the dismissal letter has been questioned and there are concerns that the dismissal was not voluntary and likely made under duress.