April 2-8
China
A Chinese court has convicted six defendants and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from eight to thirteen years in the high-profile human trafficking case of a woman found chained in a remote village in 2022. The woman's husband received nine years for torture and false imprisonment. He was not charged with purchasing a trafficked woman because the statute of limitations had lapsed. The five other defendants were convicted of abduction and trafficking after the Supreme People’s Procuratorate gave special approval to extend the statute of limitations in their cases. The victim remains under medical care.
The former head of the state-owned financial conglomerate China Everbright Group, Li Xiaopeng (李小鹏), is under investigation by the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Discipline Inspection for “suspected severe violations of discipline and laws.” deepening a crackdown on the financial sector. More than eight senior executives from large state-owned banks and insurance companies have been put under investigation during March alone. Last week, a probe was announced of former Bank of China Chairman Liu Liange (刘连舸).
Hong Kong
Former district councillor Andrew Chiu, testifying for the prosecution against his former ally, told a court that Hong Kong University law Professor Benny Tai’s 2020 election plan could have led to a catastrophe. Chiu and Tai are among 47 prominent democrats accused of violating the National Security Law for holding an unofficial primary election in the Legislative Council race. Thirty-one of the 47, including Chiu, pleaded guilty and 16 are on trial. Chiu said that the primary election was part of a ten-step “mutual destruction plan” by Tai.
A district court convicted seven men and two women of rioting near the Hong Kong Polytechnic University campus during the 2019 anti-government protests, and ordered them taken into custody to await sentencing. The nine were among 213 people arrested near the Yau Ma Tei MTR station following online calls to stage protests across Kowloon to help those trapped by police inside the university.
Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok said the government is working to enact additional national security legislation “as soon as possible.” He also said that the number of persons arrested and convicted under the National Security Law imposed by Beijing in 2020 — 250 and about 20-30, respectively — was small in proportion to Hong Kong’s population of 7.2 million.
Japan
The Tokyo District Court ordered Waseda University and a former university professor, Naomi Watanabe, to pay a total of ¥550,000 in damages to a former graduate student after finding that Watanabe had sexually harassed her. Judge Kokoro Nakamura found that Watanabe made sexually offensive remarks, violating the student’s personal rights and depriving her of the benefits of a positive learning environment. The student had sought ¥5.5 million in damages.
Japanese police investigated a member of the Chinese Communist Party who worked as a technician in Japan for alleged unauthorized disclosure last year of data related to high-tech agriculture. The disclosed data may contain trade secrets regulated under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Web3 project team published a white paper with recommendations for boosting the country’s crypto industry. The paper is part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's pro-technology strategy called “Cool Japan.” Among other things, the paper proposes revising tax regulations to create a friendlier regulatory environment for issuing digital tokens.
Koreas
The Daejeon District Court approved the seizure of four more patent rights of Mitsubishi, a Japanese firm that used forced laborers in Korea during World War II, to help satisfy the tort claims of two surviving victims and the relatives of two deceased victims. The victims won a lawsuit against Mitsubishi in 2014, and were awarded 680 million won ($518,490) in damages. However, the case was appealed and is now pending before the Supreme Court. Ten of Mitsubishi’s Korean-based patent rights and two trademark rights are currently in the seizure and debt collection process in connection with the case.
The Seoul Central District Court approved former national security adviser Suh Hoon’s application for bail on condition that he pay a deposit of 150 million won ($114,000) and stay in his registered residence. Suh was arrested over alleged irregularities surrounding the 2020 death of a South Korean fisheries official at the hands of North Korea, and was indicted for his alleged involvement in the Moon government's controversial conclusion that the fisheries official was killed while attempting to defect to the North. Suh denies the charges.
Taiwan
The Taiwan Innocence Project and a group of volunteer lawyers urged the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office to reexamine the case of Chiou Ho-shun (邱和順), Taiwan’s longest-serving death row inmate, who has been incarcerated for 35 years. Alternatively, they suggested that the president pardon Chiou. He was arrested in 1988 and convicted in the disappearance of a 10-year-old girl, whose body was never found. Three co-defendants said he planned the crime, but their accounts were inconsistent and Chiou’s lawyers say the prosecution’s case is seriously flawed.
The Executive Yuan proposed draft amendments to two laws for the Legislative Yuan’s review. Amendments to the Act on the Use of Weapons by the Coast Guard Authority (海岸巡防機關器械使用條例) would enable coast guard personnel to use weapons to defend themselves or others without firing warning shots. Amendments to the Marine Pollution Prevention and Control Act (海洋污染防治法) would raise fines significantly for certain types of violations.