December 5-11

China

The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party issued the Implementation Outline for Building a Society Ruled by Law (2020-2025) as a step toward the party goal of building a state, government, and society ruled by law by 2035. The document follows on an earlier five-year outline issued in 2015 that focused on building a government ruled by law. At a press conference on December 7, a party spokesman talked about the background, goals, main focus, and major tasks set out in the document. (in Chinese)
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on December 7 issued a new judicial interpretation of the Criminal Procedure Law, which was amended in 2018. The previous judicial interpretation dated from before the amendment. The text of the new interpretation is to be released soon. (in Chinese)
The SPC also issued a judicial interpretation on December 9 for handling civil disputes involving food safety. It said that e-commerce operators will be held accountable if they fail to review the business licenses of food sellers on their platforms and cause food safety problems.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate published four guiding cases on December 9 for implementing the “plea for leniency” system, a relatively new special procedure in China’s criminal justice system. The procuratorate spokesman said the four cases were chosen to illustrate that this special procedure could be applied in cases involving serious organized crimes, defendant organizations, judicial compensation, and prosecutorial appeals. (in Chinese)
The Ministry of Public Security announced at a press conference on December 9 that the police will enhance investigation work in homicide cases to maintain social stability. It stressed that it remained steadfast in the policy that “every homicide case must be solved (命案必破)”. (in Chinese)
Chinese regulators are seeking to find a balance between fintech innovation and regulation, according to an assistant professor of finance at Xiamen University, Yang Ji. In the wake of regulators cancelling Ant Group’s initial public offering at the last minute, Yang analyzed the risks that fintech companies including Ant introduce into the financial system.
Shanghai Minhang District Court on December 8 placed Ziwutong Beijing Asset Management, the parent organization behind Danke, on the country’s “social credit” blacklist because of its high debt. Danke, one of the biggest real estate rental companies in China, has been skimping on paying property owners since November. Yang Wanming, vice president of the Supreme People’s Court, recently said that Danke was under investigation over its cash-flow problems. Its founder and CEO, Gao Jing, was detained for investigation in June. Danke was founded in 2015 and had an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange last January.

Hong Kong

Amnesty International and Omega Research Centre, a UK-based organization, said in a report released December 11 that crowd-control measures deployed by Hong Kong police against civilians during 2019’s anti-extradition protests were in some instances akin to torture. The report identified the extensive use of baton and tear gas by Hong Kong police against protesters last year as state-sanctioned ill-treatment.
Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai has been charged under the new National Security Law with collusion with a foreign country. Media reports say that the charge is linked to accepting media interviews, during which Lai, a vocal critic of Beijing, called for sanctions against Hong Kong. Conviction can bring imprisonment for three years to life.
In a 144-page report to the legislature on December 9, the Independent Police Complaints Council said that the number of “reportable complaints” against the police force has dropped over the past year, despite widespread allegations of misconduct during the pro-democracy protests and unrest of 2019. Of the cases investigated, fewer than 10% were deemed “substantiated.”
Secretary for Home Affairs Caspar Tsui told the Legislative Council on December 9 that the government will examine “loopholes” in the city’s laws against the spread of misinformation. However, Chris Yeung, chair of the Hong Kong Journalists Association, said such legislation is completely unnecessary and that laws against misinformation can be used to restrict free speech.

Japan

The Osaka District Court has revoked the government’s approval to operate a nuclear plant under new safety regulation developed in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. A lawsuit brought by 130 area residents questioned whether the basic earthquake ground motion figure used by the plant operator, Kansai Electric, in its safety measures was appropriate. Judge Hajime Morikagi said the company needed to factor in a potentially much larger earthquake around the plant. It is the first time a Japanese court has withdrawn government approval granted to a power company to operate a nuclear plant under the safety standards set in 2013 following the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant triggered by an earthquake and ensuing tsunami.
An editorial in the Japan News marking the 20th anniversary of an anti-stalking law called for revisions to bring the law up to date. Although the law has been amended to include within its scope actions such as mass emailing and persistent posts on social media by stalkers, as recently as July the Japanese Supreme Court ruled that tracking people with a GPS device is not barred by the law.
Human Rights Watch said on December 11 that the Japanese government should immediately reverse its decision to support Cambodia’s notoriously abusive police force because Cambodia’s counterterrorism efforts have long been misused to target opposition political figures and other government critics.

Koreas

North Korean state media reported on December 5 that the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), or legislature, will convene in late January 2021. The SPA usually meets once a year to approve legal revisions, personnel appointments, and the budget. Meanwhile, the Presidium of the SPA, which exercises the legislative function when the SPA is not in session, met on December 4 and approved a series of laws on “rejecting reactionary ideology and culture,” on the introduction of sci-tech achievements, on forestry, and on mobile telecommunications.
An amendment to South Korea’s Telecommunication Business Act took effect on December 10, requiring large online service companies including Netflix, Google and Facebook to provide stable services to users. Violations could bring an administrative fine of up to $18,350.
South Korea’s National Assembly on December 10 passed a controversial amendment to the rules for setting up a Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials. The new procedures effectively remove the veto power held by the opposition People Power Party over selection of the new office’s chief. The opposition has been blocking the appointment of a head for the office because it fears the new office will unduly interfere with the prosecutor-general.

Taiwan

Judicial authorities on December 5 warned the public not to try narcotic powder mixtures, as more than 60 deaths in the first half of this year were attributed to overdoses. To deter crimes involving drugs, the Keelung District Court sentenced three defendants to 25, 25, and 19 years, respectively, for selling PMMA powder mixtures near high schools, resulting in the overdose deaths of three students.
The Control Yuan on December 8 put forth a series of proposals, including the establishment of a whistle-blower protection program, to improve protections for children who have been sexually abused. In the investigation brief of the Control Yuan, 17 major child sex-abuse cases were reviewed.
The Legislative Yuan held a public hearing on December 7 to discuss ways of encouraging digital development and cybersecurity, including establishing a ministry-level body that would spur innovation and integrate existing information systems. Other proposals included government investment in cybersecurity, establishment of information-security departments at universities, and conducting regular drills to help government agencies learn to respond to attacks.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on December 10 urged the Ministry of Labor to review the Gender Equality in Employment Act to protect workers. The existing act does not stipulate the process for investigating an employer as the perpetrator in a case. It also allows the employer to be the judge, jury and executioner, which discourages victims from filing complaints “through the system,” a lawmaker said.
The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) is drafting an amendment to remove the requirement for married women to obtain permission from their partner before having an abortion. The current Genetic Health Act provides that induced abortion by a married woman “shall be subject to her husband’s consent unless her husband is missing, unconscious or deranged.” The HPA’s petition says that a woman’s right to bodily autonomy should not be affected by her marital status; because the risks and consequences of abortion are the woman’s to bear, it should not be decided by anyone else.

Vietnam

After a 26-year ban on private use of fireworks in Vietnam, the newly passed Decree No. 137/2020/ND-CP relaxes the rules to allow certain kinds of non-explosive fireworks. An official at the Ministry of Public Security talked to the press about the new management and use of firecrackers and fireworks that will take effect on January 11, 2021.