October 17 - 23, 2020
China
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee met from October 13 to 17 and passed the following bills:
Amendments to the National Flag Law: English translation (paywall) and explanatory statement;
Amendments to the Patent Law: English translation (paywall);
Amendments to the Election Law for the National People's Congress and Local People's Congresses at All Levels: English translation (paywall);
Export Control Law: English translation (paywall);
Amendments to the Law on the Protection of Minors: English translation;
Biosecurity Law: English translation.
As always, the NPC Observer has a great report explaining the highlights of these laws.
The amendments to the Law on the Protection of Minors have formally been in the works for two years but incorporate a number of reforms that have been debated for much longer. Child rights advocate Tong Lihua (in Chinese) and Sixth Tone (in English) have published explanations of the most significant provisions, including mandatory reporting of child abuse, background checks for teachers and others working with children, restrictions on Internet companies collecting minors’ personal data, and measures to discourage cyber-bullying and Internet addiction. Relatedly, earlier this year, nine ministries and departments jointly announced the Mandatory Reporting System for Cases of Violations Against Juveniles and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, Ministry of Education, and Ministry of Public Security jointly announced the System for Making Inquiries into Information on Sexual Offenses by Entering Teachers and Staff.
Public comments can be submitted to the NPC about the following draft laws or amendments to laws (click here to review the drafts and submit comments):
Amendments to the National Defense Law;
Yangtze River Protection Law, 2nd draft;
The 11th Amendment to the Criminal Law, 2nd draft;
Amendments to the Administrative Penalty Law, 2nd draft;
Personal Data Protection Law;
Wild Animal Conservation Law.
The draft Criminal Law amendment contains provisions on lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 12 for some crimes, as well as on juvenile protection, impersonating others in the college entrance exam, and others. Here are the full text of the 2nd draft, its English translation, and the legislature’s explanatory statement.
Hong Kong
Ireland has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong following review of its controversial new national security law. New Zealand, Canada, Germany Australia, the UK, US, and other countries have already taken similar action.
Japan
Japan’s Justice Ministry introduced a system on October 21 for reporting the executions of death row inmates to their victims. In the past, victims generally learned of executions from prosecutors’ public announcements, along with other members of the public.
Japan Law Translation has released English translation of the following three laws: Port and Harbour Act (final translation), Product Liability Act (final translation), and The Basic Act on Cybersecurity (tentative translation).
Japan’s Welfare Ministry is undertaking a survey of sexual violence among abused children, prompted by the high-profile death of 10-year-old Mia Kurihara last year due to physical abuse.
LGBT groups in Japan launched a global petition calling for the Japanese legislature to pass an LGBT equality law before the county hosts the Olympics next year. Meanwhile, a Tokyo ward assemblyman from Japan’s governing Liberal Democratic Party who had blamed gay people for Japan’s low birthrate apologized for his remarks, but it fell flat; an opposition effort to censure him failed to pass.
The Japanese Education Ministry released a report on bullying at schools that said more than 300 children took their lives in the last fiscal year to escape bullying.
Koreas
The South Korean government announced plans to legalize some abortions, triggering a fierce debate between conservatives and religious groups who want to maintain a complete ban, and women's rights organizations who say the government isn’t going far enough.
Korean civil society is urging the government to expand protections for the children of illegal aliens. Since 2012, they have been allowed to attend school through high school but they still can be deported upon graduation, are denied access to other social services, and cannot access higher education or jobs.
Human Rights Watch released a report outlining numerous abuses and due process violations in North Korea’s pretrial detention system.
Taiwan
DPP legislators have presented recommendations for constitutional amendments to the legislature and propose to hold public hearings to solicit input from across society. Among other things, they want to remove references to Taiwan as a province.
Taiwan’s National Communications Commission is to hold an administrative hearing Oct. 26 on the license renewal application of CtiTV (中天新闻), one of the few television channels that supports unification with mainland China. Pan-blue groups have accused the DPP government of seeking to shut down the channel, and former President Ma Ying-jeou has called on the US to ‘keep an eye on’ the CtiTV hearing. CtiTV is owned by the Want Want China Times Group, which has made no secret of its pro-China stance.
The National Police Agency has proposed anti-stalking legislation to give police the power to intervene faster when a complaint about stalking or harassment is filed.
The Child Welfare League Foundation released the results of a survey that found nearly half of the nation’s students reported being involved in cyber-bullying as perpetrators, victims, or both. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Education amended the Regulations Governing the Prevention and Control of Bullying on Campuses (校園霸凌防制準則) to include online harassment.
Several civic groups led by the Judicial Reform Foundation are urging that the Crime Victim Protection Act be amended to provide better assistance to crime victims.
Vietnam
Vietnam’s National Assembly began holding its semi-annual meeting, the last in its 2016-2020 term, which is taking place over 19 days including online and in-person sessions. The agenda includes a proposal to amend the Law on Residency to simplify residential registration procedures. Also under discussion: drug prevention and control, access to information about HIV patients, anti-anti-corruption efforts and environment protection.