ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A doctoral student from the Kurdistan Region's eastern Halabja province was found dead in the Chinese city of Qingdao, in the eastern Shandong province, on Tuesday, according to his university and information obtained by Rudaw, as circumstances surrounding his death remain unclear.
Mohammed Hadi, who was in his first year of a PhD program in computer science at the Ocean University of China, was found by a Chinese national near a river in Qingdao, Rudaw has learned.
The university confirmed to Rudaw that Hadi’s body “had been recovered” but that “it remains unclear whether he drowned, was killed, or died under other circumstances,” adding that “the incident appeared to have occurred around two days before the body was found.”
Rudaw also contacted the Iraqi Embassy in China for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.
For its part, the Kurdistan Region’s higher education ministry offered its condolences to Hadi’s family, detailing that he was studying in China “under a full Chinese scholarship” and that he had previously worked as an instructor at the University of Halabja.
“On this painful loss, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research extends its deepest condolences and sympathies to itself, the University of Halabja, his family, students, and friends,” the ministry said.
Importantly, several of Hadi’s friends and acquaintances who spoke to Rudaw described him as “quiet, respectful and largely without known conflicts.” They added that “he had previously told people close to him that he had experienced problems with a Russian national in China.”
According to those accounts, the Russian national had allegedly “harassed him, including entering his room and taking photographs,” prompting the Kurdish student to relocate from his campus accommodation. Rudaw could not independently verify those allegations.
The circumstances surrounding Hadi's death are expected to be determined by Chinese police following an investigation. Neither the authorities nor the Iraqi embassy in Beijing has publicly confirmed that the death was a homicide.
Hadi's case has drawn attention among Kurdish students in China and his wider community due to the uncertainty surrounding his death.
The incident comes as Chinese authorities have reported a broader decline in crime and homicide. Beijing's public security ministry in July reported that crime fell by 16.5 percent in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, with homicide cases dropping to their lowest level on record.
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