January 28-February 3
China
China executed three persons in two separate high-profile murder cases. In Fuzhou, Wu Xieyu (吴谢宇) was executed after being convicted of brutally killing his mother. In Chongqing, Zhang Bo (张波) and his girlfriend Ye Chengchen (叶诚尘) were executed for killing Zhang’s 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son by tossing them out of a 15th-floor window.
Investment banker Bao Fan, who disappeared a year ago and apparently has been in the custody or control of Chinese anti-corruption investigators, resigned as chairman and chief executive of China Renaissance Holdings, the company he founded. The company released the news in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange but gave no details about Bao’s status. In earlier filings, it has said that it has been unable to contact Bao, who was one of the leading dealmakers in China’s tech sector.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate marked the three-year anniversary of the Civil Code taking effect by releasing 11 “typical cases” related to its implementation. The cases deal with judicial discretion, illegal credit card lending, contract disputes, traffic accident liability, and property rights. The SPP also reported on the work of procuratorates in reviewing court judgments and mediation documents in civil cases to ensure that the outcomes are legal and consistent, in some cases suggesting retrials.
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) jointly released an interpretation about changing the name of the crime defined in Article 169 of the Criminal Law to “the crime of falsely converting enterprise assets into shares or selling enterprise assets at a low price (徇私舞弊低价折股、出售公司、企业资产罪)”. The change was made in accordance with the recently passed 12th Amendment to the Criminal Law, and will take effect on March 1, 2024.
The Ministry of Justice released 2023 data regarding administrative review cases (行复议案件). Out of a total of 315,000 administrative review cases, 37,000 were settled and 205,000 were finalized without appeal or further review.
The conjoined Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and National Supervision Commission released seven “typical cases” of low-level party members and officials violating party rules. Violations included accepting gifts and banquet invitations and using government vehicles for personal purposes. In 2023, the two bodies disciplined 7,817 persons and transferred 474 cases to prosecutors for criminal prosecution.
Hong Kong
China’s Supreme People’s Court and Hong Kong’s Department of Justice signed an agreement for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial cases, with immediate effect. The Department of Justice said the agreement will reduce the need for parties to litigate the same issues in both places. Wealth managers said it could lead to wealthy persons moving assets out of Hong Kong.
The agreement for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments could be tested by a Hong Kong court order for the liquidation of China Evergrande Group, once China’s largest property developer. High Court Judge Linda Chan issued the order after Evergrande’s Hong Kong-headquartered and listed company, which went into default in December 2021, failed to restructure $300 billion in debt. Experts questioned whether the order would be enforced in China, where 90% of Evergrande’s assets are located, because of the importance of the real estate sector to the economy and social stability.
The government published a 110-page “public consultation document” describing and defending the national security law that it plans to present to the Legislative Council. Members of the public may submit comments until February 28. The actual text of the proposed law was not released, but the consultation document indicated it will create several new crimes, including conducting cyber attacks or other acts of sabotage to threaten national security, engaging in “external interference” with government activities, and theft of state secrets, defined expansively as in China. It will also cover treason and insurrection.
Chief Executive John Lee said Hong Kong cannot not afford to delay in approving the national security law. The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, Chinese Manufacturers’ Association of Hong Kong, Federation of Hong Kong Industries, and Chinese General Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement supporting the law. The Law Society of Hong Kong, which represents solicitors, said it would study the proposal carefully. Amnesty International said the proposed law may further entrench repression in the city.
A court heard testimony in the trial of eight police officers accused of beating street sleepers, destroying their personal belongings, and framing one man on drug possession charges. One person died in police custody. After the defense said they would not call any witnesses, the trial was adjourned until April, when closing arguments will be delivered.
A Hong Kong court convicted four persons of the crime of rioting for their roles in storming the Legislative Council building during the 2019 protests. Two journalists who entered the building to report on events were acquitted of rioting but found guilty of “entering or staying in the precincts of the chamber.” Sentencing was scheduled for March.
Japan
A foreign-born naturalized Japanese citizen and two foreigners with long-term residency sued the national and local governments over alleged racial profiling by police resulting in frequent police stops on the street while going about their daily lives. The plaintiffs seek not only damages but a court ruling that racial profiling violates Japanese law.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida opened a new legislative session by apologizing for a corruption scandal and pledging to lead reforms. Prosecutors investigating alleged operations of political slush funds have indicted ten persons from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Kishida said he will consider inviting third-party experts to join the investigation and will discuss reforms with other parties.
The Supreme Court again rejected an appeal to reopen a 1961 murder case in which five women died after drinking poisoned wine. The convicted killer, Masaru Okunishi, husband of one of the victims, died on death row in 2015 at age 89 midway through a ninth unsuccessful retrial request. His sister filed the latest appeal, also unsuccessful. Defense lawyers said she is 94 years old and is not expected to try again. Okunishi confessed during police questioning but later retracted.
Koreas
A man who stabbed the leader of South Korea’s opposition Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung, was indicted on charges of attempted murder and violating the Public Official Election Act. The suspect was detained at the scene after stabbing Lee in the neck on January 2, 2024. Authorities say he wanted to prevent Lee from becoming president. They also indicted a second man on charges of aiding the attack.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered the state to compensate 26 victims of human right abuses at a former detention facility for vagrants in the city of Busan. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded in 2023 that the Brothers Welfare Center, in operation from 1975-1987 during South Korea’s period of military rule, seriously violated human rights. The court’s ruling for the first time acknowledged state responsibility.
President Yoon Suk Yeol vetoed legislation approved by the opposition-controlled National Assembly that would have created a special committee to investigate the 2022 Halloween crowd crash in Seoul in which 159 people died. Family members held a rally to protest the veto.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced lawmaker Youn Kwan-suk to two years in prison after convicting him of distributing cash to buy votes in the 2021 election for leadership of the opposition Democratic Party. At the time, Youn was working for the campaign of Song Young-gil, who eventually won the party leadership. A former aide to Song also was convicted and sentenced. Song was arrested in December 2023 on charges that include illegal political funding.
The Seoul High Court ordered the Seoul Central District Court to rehear damage claims from 85 colonial-era forced labor victims and their families against 16 Japanese companies, including Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp., Nissan Chemical Corp. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. The lower court had dismissed the lawsuit in June 2021, arguing (as the Japanese government does) that a 1965 agreement between Seoul and Tokyo bars individual South Koreans from seeking damages. However, beginning in 2018 the South Korean Supreme Court has repeatedly rejected that argument and ordered Japanese companies to compensate forced labor victims or their survivors.
The Suwon District Court convicted convicted a man of murder and sentenced him to life in prison for an unprovoked car-and-stabbing rampage that killed two people and injured 12 in 2023. It was one of several random attacks in public places that set the country on edge and prompted measures to tighten public security.
Taiwan
The newly elected Legislative Yuan convened and chose Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomingtang or KMT) legislator Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) as its new speaker, beginning a new era of divided government. Han was supported by all 52 KMT legislators as well as two independents. The Taiwan People’s Party, which has eight seats and is expected to play a decisive role in the coming session, voted for its own candidate, as did the Democratic People’s Party, which holds 51 seats. The DPP’s candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, won the January 13 presidential election and takes office in May.
Four KMT legislators said before the session convened that they plan to introduce a bill to permit absentee voting. Currently, voters must cast ballots in person at the location of their household registration.
More than a dozen environmental groups asked the Constitutional Court to declare the government derelict in its duties for failing to take greater action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. They cited shortcomings in the 2023 Climate Change Response Act and in the Ministry of Environment’s enforcement actions.