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.

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.

June 8, 2025-June 14, 2025

Senior Chinese and US negotiators agree on a framework to get their trade negotiations back on track following a series of disputes; Hong Kong and Chinese national security police carry out their first known joint operation; Japan’s political parties fail to agree on new rules for political donations, with the scandal-ridden Liberal Democrats favoring a less restrictive approach; US President Donald Trump signs an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel; two South Korean courts postpone indefinitely criminal trials of newly elected President Lee Jae-myung; prosecutors in Taiwan indict four former members of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on charges of spying for China.

May 25, 2025-May 31, 2025

China and Japan report progress in talks to lift China’s ban on importing Japanese seafood; Hong Kong hosts a signing ceremony for the new treaty-based International Organization for Mediation; a Japanese court orders the government to compensate three businessmen wrongly accused of exporting goods capable of producing biological weapons; the front-runner in South Korea’s presidential election campaign proposes amending the constitution to make it harder to impose martial law; Taiwan’s Executive Yuan finalizes a controversial set of proposed legal and administrative measures designed to counter Chinese infiltration.

May 11, 2025-May 17, 2025

The US and China deescalate their trade war with an agreement to cancel some tariffs and suspend others for 90 days; a Chinese court sentences a Japanese man to twelve years in prison for alleged espionage; Hong Kong enacts new national security-related legislation to facilitate Beijing directly exercising jurisdiction over selected Hong Kong national security cases; South Korea’s Democratic Party seeks to rescue its presidential candidate from his legal woes by changing the law under which he is charged; Taiwan’s ruling party asks the Constitutional Court to review the constitutionality of opposition-enacted measures that substantially reduce central government revenues.

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.

April 13, 2025-April 19, 2025

China accuses the US National Security Agency of hacking infrastructure of the Asian Winter Games, held in Harbin in February; the Hong Kong government moves to tighten control over trade unions based on national security concerns; Japan’s Fair Trade Commission orders Google to stop forcing smartphone manufacturers to pre-install its apps; a South Korean court begins the criminal trial of former President Yoon Suk Yeol on insurrection charges; Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says sixty-two active-duty military personnel have been found to hold Chinese residency permits, and as a result are now barred from handling intelligence and confidential data.