Few people outside of China’s legal elites have heard of the “foreign-related rule of law” policy. Yet this awkwardly named policy was a big reason that Chinese President Xi Jinping was able to stage his recent summit with US President Donald Trump in a posture of apparent parity. Katherine Wilhelm writes that “foreign-related rule of law” produced the critical minerals export control regime that enabled Xi to force Trump into a tariff truce.
Japan has long been a leading advocate for nuclear disarmament. However, growing belligerency on the part of its three nuclear neighbors has put national security at the top of the government agenda, while US behavior has cast doubt on its longstanding commitment to defend Japan. In this May 20, 2026 talk, Nobumasa Akiyama, an advisor to the Japanese delegation to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference, says a majority of the Japanese public both supports nuclear disarmament and favors remaining under the US “nuclear umbrella.”
One of the most complex topics in contemporary international relations is the status of the self-governing entity of Taiwan and its government in Taipei. In this November 6, 2025 talk, Pasha Hsieh, a law professor at Singapore Management University, explains how states that lack formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan nonetheless enter into trade and bilateral investment agreements with it, blurring the line between recognition and non-recognition.
May 31– June 06
China issues sweeping new outbound foreign investment regulations that mandate a nation security review of China-connected transactions even if they take place entirely offshore; Hong Kong police turn out in force on June 4 to prevent any public commemoration of the 1989 Chinese military attack on peaceful protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square; Japan advances a bill that would criminalize desecrating the national flag; South Korea advances draft legislation to foster the country’s defense semiconductor industry; Taiwan’s political opposition proposes to limit how long acting agency heads can serve, potentially escalating the appointment standoff between the executive and legislative branches; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a proposed US $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan is under review, not paused.
May 24– May 30
China’s government begins issuing ID numbers to humanoid robots so they can be tracked from production to recycling; Hong Kong announces plans to create a specialized International Commercial Court within the High Court to hear high-value cross-border disputes; Japan's Diet creates two high-level bodies to consolidate and analyze national security information; South Korean police accuse a YouTuber of using artificial intelligence to create fake evidence that actor Kim Soo-hyun dated a minor; Taiwan opposition leader Cheng Li-wun prepares to head to the United States for talks with American politicians about sustainable peace across the Taiwan Strait; Taiwan President Lai Ching-te proposes a US$12 billion program to encourage births.
May 17– May 23
China strengthens state control over mining, processing, and stockpiling of rare earths and casts doubt on White House assertions that China agreed to address concerns about rare earth shortages; Hong Kong's legislature converts its only authorized protest site into a parking lot; Japan considers expanding the role played by crime victims and bereaved families in criminal proceedings; the South Korean government issues a white paper that pivots the government’s North Korea policy from confrontation to peaceful coexistence; opposition parties in Taiwan’s legislature fail to obtain enough votes to impeach President Lai Ching-te; the reliability of the US defense umbrella is the subject of debate in Taiwan and Washington as US President Trump sends mixed signals about approving a planned $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan.
Program on International Law & Relations in Asia
