Chinese universities conduct a nationwide audit of retracted academic papers; Hong Kong courts sentence more defendants in cases stemming from the 2019 protests; LGBTQ activists in Japan advocate for equal marriage rights on Valentine’s Day; South Korea convicts three former police officers for destroying evidence linked to a fatal crowd crush in Seoul on Halloween 2022; Taiwan solicits public input for the next phase of its Open Government National Action Plan.
USALI Faculty Director José E. Alvarez has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the oldest and most prestigious learned societies in the United States. He is among 252 new members announced on April 22, and one of only five law professors who were chosen.
This 10-session seminar will introduce the legal system of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – in practice as well as theory – with an emphasis on institutions, norms, procedures, personnel and ideology relating to constitutional law, criminal justice and human rights. We will view the contemporary legal process against the background of China’s legal traditions and pre-Communist efforts to develop a modern legal system. We will also consider the relevant experiences of Chinese societies in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Pioneering scholar of Chinese law, Professor Jerome Alan Cohen has taught and mentored countless others in a field he helped establish in this country. A courageous voice for those whose voices have been silenced, Professor Cohen defends human rights around the globe. Bold trailblazer and advocate, for using his many talents to create a more just world, Yale is proud to present Professor Jerome Alan Cohen with his third Yale degree, Doctor of Laws.
From USALI Faculty Director Emeritus Jerome A. Cohen: “Here’s a draft of a new article that in a way is my Apologia Pro Vita Sua. There have been some debates about whether those of us who tried to help China build its legal system in the decade beginning in 1979 committed a mistake. I offer my thoughts in the article from a frank, close-up, first-hand perspective. I hope they will be useful for people thinking about our China policy and for anyone interested in recent Chinese history.”
October 12 - October 18
China detains about thirty members of an unregistered Christian church network; Hong Kong’s legislature approves a long-awaited framework for regulating ride-hail services; the Japanese government asks OpenAI to refrain from infringing on Japanese anime, manga, and other IP; the Taiwan government plans to block access to TikTok on Wi-Fi networks in elementary and junior high schools.
October 5 - October 11
China announces new controls on the export of rare earths and related technologies, prompting the United States to announce new tariffs on Chinese goods of 100 percent; a Hong Kong court opens the criminal trial of the father of exiled activist Anna Kwok; former Japanese death row inmate Iwao Hakamata files a ¥600 million claim against the central and prefecture governments for misconduct and failure to act; South Korean investigators indict the 82-year-old leader of the Unification Church on bribery and other charges; Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan proposes rules to govern the broadcast of court proceedings amid a partisan debate over court transparency.
September 28-October 4
China hands down death penalties to members of a crime group that targeted Chinese citizens in telecoms fraud schemes from a base in Myanmar; Hong Kong police plan to install tens of thousands of surveillance cameras in public spaces that will use AI-powered facial recognition; the Unification Church in Japan agrees to compensate three former believers, resolving the first of nearly 200 claims that have been lodged over its aggressive money-raising; South Korea announces stricter rules for international adoptions and President Lee Jae Myung apologizes for the government’s past lax management; Taiwan says it will not accept US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick’s proposal that half of the semiconductors Taiwan currently supplies to the US be made in the US.
September 21-September 27
China says it will not seek any new “special and differential treatment” as a developing country member of the World Trade Organization but will retain its current benefits; Hong Kong legislators approve a bill setting minimum standards for the city’s tiny subdivided apartments; a Japanese court says it is unconstitutional to require gender reassignment surgery in order to legally change one’s gender; former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declares his innocence at the start of a second trial on charges related to his December 2024 declaration of martial law; South Korean authorities arrest the head of the Unification Church as part of a widening corruption probe; a Taiwan court sentences four former Democratic Progressive Party personnel who were convicted of leaking sensitive information to Chinese military intelligence officials.
Jerome A. Cohen, professor emeritus of law at New York University and founding director of the law school’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute, who passed away on September 22, 2025, introduced the study of China’s legal system into American law schools. Through his writings, teaching, private diplomacy, and public advocacy, he was an influential advocate for human rights and the rule of law in China and across East Asia as the region emerged from colonialism and post-war authoritarian rule to become an economic powerhouse.
September 14-September 20
China’s leadership for the first time signals willingness to allow TikTok to be sold to American buyers; Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee outlines measures to stimulate the sluggish economy in his annual policy speech to the legislature; Japan rejects UN criticism that it has failed to provide sufficient information and reparations to the victims of World War II sexual slavery; South Korea says it will investigate possible human rights violations by American authorities when they raided the construction site of a Hyundai Motor-LG Energy Solution battery factory in the US state of Georgia; the Taiwan government issues a new 36-page civil defense handbook instructing citizens how to respond should China invade.
September 7, 2025-September 13, 2025
China’s legislature reviews Foreign Trade Law revisions that give the government more tools to counter US tariffs and trade restrictions; Hong Kong’s Legislative Council rejects a proposal to allow same-sex couples who have married overseas to register their partnership in Hong Kong and enjoy some of the rights of married heterosexuals; Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in office for less than a year, announces his resignation; the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung finalizes a government reorganization plan that includes breaking up the powerful Supreme Prosecutors’ Office; Taiwan’s executive approves a special budget that includes universal cash handouts to counter the effect of US tariffs.
September 1, 2025-September 7, 2025
New employment rules take effect in China, increasing compliance risks for multinational companies; a Hong Kong jury acquits five defendants but convicts three others of involvement in an alleged plot to plant explosives during the 2019 protests; Japan and the United States sign a memorandum of understanding reaffirming Japan’s pledge to invest $550 billion in the United States; South Korean legislators and experts clash at a public hearing about a plan to restructure the prosecutors’ office; Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council urges the legislature to investigate whether a former deputy legislative speaker broke the law by attending China’s military parade on September 3.
August 24, 2025-August 30, 2025
China releases a report asserting that US freedom of navigation naval patrols in the South China Sea have no legal basis; final arguments conclude in the national security trial of former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai; Japanese police and prosecution officials kneel and apologize at the grave of a businessman who died after being wrongfully detained for months on charges of violating export controls; a South Korean special counsel formally charges the former first lady with bribery and stock market manipulation; Taiwan’s Executive Yuan unveils a Cabinet reshuffle following the failure of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to flip control of the legislature through recall elections.
August 17, 2025-August 23, 2025
China’s National People’s Congress says it has created new channels for gathering public input in lawmaking; a lawyer for former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai makes closing arguments in his national security trial and spars with judges about the scope of free speech rights in Hong Kong; Japanese police arrest 29 citizens who were extradited from Cambodia on suspicion of running telephone scams directed at the Japanese public; more than 12,000 South Koreans sue former President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife for emotional distress caused by his December 2024 martial law declaration.
August 10, 2025-August 16, 2025
China files a lawsuit against Canada at the WTO over steel tariffs; a Hong Kong court postpones closing arguments in the national security trial of former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai so Lai can have a heart monitor installed; leading Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun sues AI startup Perplexity for copyright infringement; South Korean President Lee Jae Myung controversially pardons several politicians as he marks the country’s Liberation Day; the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II sets off a war of words across the region as rival parties and governments honor their account of history.
August 3 - August 9, 2025
Chinese police violently break up a rare mass protest over a school bullying incident; Hong Kong authorities cancel the passports of twelve pro-democracy activists who have fled abroad; two weeks after Japan and the US announced a trade agreement, Japan’s chief trade negotiator returns to Washington to press for an end to tariff stacking; a special counsel in South Korea seeks an arrest warrant against the former first lady; prosecutors in Taiwan arrest six persons suspected of stealing trade secrets from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
July 27, 2025-August 2, 2025
The “CEO abbot” of China’s Shaolin Temple faces criminal investigation; a former pro-democracy legislator in Macau is the first person arrested under that city’s national security law; the Tokyo High Court upholds fines and a prison term for the Dentsu Group’s big-rigging during the Tokyo Olympics; business groups in South Korea oppose pro-labor and pro-minority shareholder legislation; continued paralysis at Taiwan’s Constitutional Court leaves more than 350 petitions awaiting action.
July 20, 2025-July 26, 2025
Chinese authorities bar another American from leaving the country; China proposes creating a new, Shanghai-based body to coordinate global AI governance; Hong Kong’s High Court strikes down a law that requires transgender persons to use public toilets that match their assigned sex at birth; the US and Japan announce a trade deal but Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba immediately comes under pressure to release more details of an unprecedented $550 billion investment fund that is part of the deal; a South Korean court orders former President Yoon Suk Yeol to compensate ordinary citizens for the mental distress caused by his martial law declaration in December 2024; voters in Taiwan reject an attempt by supporters of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to end divided government gridlock by ousting 24 Nationalist Party legislators.
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.
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.
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.
June 22, 2025-June 28, 2025
China’s legislature approves increased detention of juvenile offenders and other revisions to a controversial administrative punishments law; Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee warns of “soft resistance” to the government and says that criticism of the government is acceptable only if it does not aim to undermine national security; Japan executes a man who killed nine persons who were seeking assisted suicide; South Korean prosecutors grill former President Yoon Suk-yeol for fifteen hours over alleged actions to obstruct justice following his aborted attempt to impose martial law; Taiwan’s legislature amends the Civil Service Protection Act to increase penalties for harassment or abuse of power.
