“Iron is the country.” Tetsu wa kokka nari. That is what Japan’s first prime minister, Prince Ito Hirobumi, said in 1901, channeling nineteenth century German statesman Otto von Bismarck, when the first blast furnace of Yahata Steel Works, Nippon Steel’s main antecedent company, was fired up. But that hardly applies to the United States and its iron and steel sector today, writes Paul Sheard.
China’s legal service sector is growing rapidly, including not only commercial law offices but publicly funded legal aid. In this Feb. 21, 2025 talk at NYU Law School, Hualing Fu, dean of the law faculty at the University of Hong Kong and visiting professor at NYU Law, shares his research into the emerging new sector of “public legal services,” in which the government funds lawyers to resolve social disputes at an early stage. Dean Fu argues that pro bono work in China can serve as a tool of political control, allowing the government to frame disputes in its preferred terms and ensure they are resolved quickly, without any group mobilization.
May 4-10, 2025
China’s Foreign Ministry denies that the government requires its companies to illegally collect or store data; a retired New Zealand Supreme Court judge is nominated to join Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal; Japanese legislators push the operators of social media platforms to take steps to counter election-related misinformation and disinformation; a council that represents South Korean judges will hold an emergency meeting to discuss concerns over judicial independence; Taiwan’s government proposes legislation to tighten supervision of child care providers to guard against abuses.
April 27, 2025-May 6, 2025
China’s legislature approves a law to bolster the private sector and unveils the draft of a comprehensive environmental code; Hong Kong authorities accuse the father and brother of an exiled democracy activist of breaking the law by trying to help her access funds from an insurance policy; Japan’s opposition parties propose legislation that would allow married couples to choose whether to use one family name or separate names; South Korea’s Supreme Court orders a retrial of presidential front-runner Lee Jae-myung on changes of violating the election law; Taiwan’s government revokes the citizenship or permanent residency of about twenty persons as it enforces a widely ignored ban on holding dual Taiwanese and mainland official IDs.
Leading legal scholars, practitioners, and policymakers gathered at NYU Shanghai for a Foreign-related Rule of Law Workshop that was co-hosted by the U.S.-Asia Law Institute (USALI). The workshop focused on current challenges and institutional innovations in the field of foreign-related rule of law, a broad category encompassing the full array of laws – both domestic and international – that govern China’s interaction with the world.
Program on International Law & Relations in Asia
