October 2-8
China
The UN Human Rights Council rejected a motion to debate the human rights situation in China’s western region of Xinjiang. The vote marks only the second time in the Human Rights Council’s history that it has rejected a motion. One month ago, then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet released a report finding serious human rights violations in the region that may amount to crimes against humanity.
The European Court of Human Rights blocked Poland from extraditing a Taiwanese man to China, saying that any persons detained in China face a “real risk” of being tortured. The sweeping scope of the court’s ruling in the case of Liu v. Poland means that going forward, no signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights should extradite any persons to China. There is no need to show that the individual in the case faces a special risk because of political activism or membership in a particular ethnic or religious group.
Chinese tech billionaire and founder of JD.com Richard Liu Qiangdong reached a settlement with former University of Minnesota student Liu Jingyao, who accused him of rape in 2018. The settlement was announced the day before a civil trial was scheduled to begin in the US. Supporters of the #MeToo movement in China had been looking forward to watching an open and adversarial trial on the merits, and some observers viewed the settlement as a setback. Others argued it was still a win for the movement. Meanwhile, attention shifted to the latest allegation of serial sexual harassment, against the founder and head of a Beijing school that trains students for interviews and written exams required to get into prestigious art and drama schools.
Since 2021, about 200 same-sex couples from mainland China and Hong Kong have gotten married over zoom in Utah County in the US state of Utah. Utah has no citizenship requirements for marriage licenses, and Utah County allows international couples to register their marriages online. The county began offering virtual weddings during the Covid-19 pandemic. Neither mainland China nor Hong Kong have legalized same-sex marriages.
Hong Kong
A 27-year-old man pleaded guilty to seven counts of doxxing his former girlfriend and faces possible prison time in the city’s first criminal doxxing case. Ho Muk-wah, who set up multiple fake profiles impersonating a former lover and encouraging others to harass her, will be sentenced by Shatin Magistrates’ Court in December. Hong Kong criminalized doxxing in September 2021 after police, officials, and protestors had their personal detailed information published online by opponents during the 2019 protest movement.
A majority of Hong Kong residents between ages 18-40 oppose discrimination against sexual minorities and support legalization of same-sex marriage, according to the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute. The institute interviewed 2,120 residents in this age group and said almost half of those surveyed said they had experienced, witnessed, or heard about discriminatory behavior against the LGBTQ+ community.
The first minors convicted under Hong Kong's National Security Law were sentenced to up to three years’ detention in a training center. One 16-year-old and three 17-year-olds pleaded guilty to conspiracy to incite subversion. They were members of a pro-independence group called Returning Valiant that prosecutors said advocated a violent revolution against China.
Japan
The Fukuoka District Court temporarily halted the revocation of a language school’s certification by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan. The agency took the action after a staff member of the school physically restrained a Vietnamese student for several hours using a chain and padlock wrapped around his belt. The agency said it will review the court’s decision and respond. Removing a school from the list of approved institutions is extremely rare and would mean the school could not accept new students for five years.
An expert panel set up by the Consumer Affairs Agency is drafting legislation to restrict religious groups from using high-pressure tactics to solicit donations. The move comes after the assassin of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he was motivated by Abe’s connections to the Unification Church, which allegedly used such tactics. Regulators are said to be targeting demands for donations that play on the spiritual fears of followers and are made when an individual is unable to make a rational decision.
Koreas
The plenary meeting of the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA) of North Korea adopted several laws, including a law on emergency response, a law on procurement, and laws to protect new strains of plants and manage livestock breeding. The SPA is formally the country’s highest organ of power but takes direction from the ruling party.
The Supreme Court of South Korea upheld a lower court’s decision to grant refugee status to a Pakistani couple who said they were targeted for honor killing — that is, murder by relatives who accused them of disgracing the family. The couple’s refugee application was rejected by the Korea Immigration Service and the first trial court, but the rejection was overturned by the Seoul High Court. It is the first time that refugee status has been granted on these grounds.
Taiwan
Taiwan’s Cabinet approved two recently signed agreements between Taiwan and the Caribbean nation Saint Vincent and the Grenadines on judicial cooperation in criminal matters and repatriation of prisoners. The agreements still need legislative approval to take effect.
Taiwan’s Constitutional Court heard a case challenging the constitutionality of a ruling issued by the Intellectual Property Court (IP Court). The plaintiff, Wei Chuan Foods Corporation, claimed that the IP Court confiscated its illegal gains of 32.92 million NTD ($1.03 million) before an amended Criminal Code containing the confiscation clause went into effect. The IP Court announced the confiscation decision after the amendment took effect. The Constitution Court said it would delay release of its decision due to another conjoined case. (in Chinese)