Promoting Rule of Law and Human Rights in Asia

The U.S.-Asia Law Institute serves as a bridge between Asia and America, fostering mutual understanding on legal issues and using constructive engagement to advocate for legal progress.

 

New and Notable

 

Symposium on Nippon Steel and the New Era in US-Japan Economic Relations

The Symposium on Nippon Steel and the New Era in US-Japan Economic Relations is a collection of essays in the USALI East-West Studies series. Nippon Steel’s acquisition of the once-great American steelmaker closed on June 18, 2025, after recovering from a near-death experience. The symposium analyzes whether the US government’s national security review of the transaction was politicized or whether the definition of “national security” has broadened; differences between American and Japanese views of the transaction; and possible impacts of the entire episode on the wider US-Japan economic relationship. Some of the essays previously appeared in USALI Perspectives and were written while the transaction’s fate was still undetermined.

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Focusing on ESG Could Prevent Disasters Like Fukushima

How much liability should company directors bear for extremely unlikely but extremely damaging accidents? Yoichiro Hamabe critiques a recent Tokyo High Court decision that excuses directors of liability for the devastating Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown of 2011. He argues that imposing a heightened duty of care in high-risk sectors like nuclear power could encourage company directors to pay more attention to environmental risks and community safety, ultimately preventing disasters like Fukushima.

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Talking Points: What Does PRC Law Say About Taiwan?

One of the most complicated topics in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and its government in Taipei, formally called the government of the Republic of China. In this May 6, 2025 talk, Bing Ling, a professor at the University of Sydney Law School, explains the legal basis for China’s claim to sovereignty over Taiwan; what actions might invoke use of the PRC’s Anti-Secession Law, either to use force against Taiwan or simply bring criminal charges against Taiwanese who oppose unification; and the urgent need for the governments in Beijing and Taipei to resume talks.

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This Week in Asian Law

July 13, 2025-July 20, 2025

Chinese media publish new Communist Party guidance for the judiciary; a Chinese court sentences a Japanese businessman to 3 1/2 years in prison on an espionage conviction; the Hong Kong Court of Appeals will rule within nine months on appeals from twelve pro-democracy activists jailed for holding an unofficial primary election; the Japanese government establishes an administrative body aimed at easing citizens' concerns over the rapid rise in the number of foreigners living in the country; a South Korean court retries a man who was hanged in 1980 for the 1979 assassination of strongman Park Chung-hee; Taiwan prepares for an unprecedented wave of 31 recall elections with the Democratic Progressive Party hoping to gain control of the Legislative Yuan and end divided government.

This Week in Asian Law

July 6, 2025-July 12, 2025

Chinese lawyers and pro-democracy activists mark the tenth anniversary of a sweeping 2015 crackdown on lawyers that resulted in hundreds being detained and some imprisoned or disbarred; the Hong Kong government proposes to impose criminal charges to enforce the requirement to register all mobile phone SIM cards in the user’s real name; a proposal to allow Japanese married couples to keep separate surnames becomes an issue in the election for the upper house of parliament; former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol returns to jail after being accused of five new criminal charges related to his aborted martial law attempt; the career prosecutor who has been nominated to lead Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan and serve as a Constitutional Court judge submits to questioning by legislators.

This Week in Asian Law

June 29, 2025-July 5, 2025

China revises its Anti-Unfair Competition Law to better protect trademarks and trade secrets; Hong Kong leaders mark the fifth anniversary of the National Security Law with calls to suppress “soft resistance”; South Korea’s National Assembly revises the country’s martial law rules; Taiwan prepares for legislative recall elections on July 26 and August 23 as the Democratic Progressive Party tries to undo its rival’s narrow victory in the last legislative elections.

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Program on International Law & Relations in Asia

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