March 10-16
China
The National People’s Congress concluded its annual plenary session, unusually brief at just one week, with no surprises and no press conference by Premier Li Qiang. The key phrase of the session was “new quality productive forces,” seen as the solution to China’s economic malaise. Among other documents, the NPC approved a revised State Council Organic Law, adding provisions that require both the State Council as an institution (Article 3) and individuals working in the State Council (Article 18) to support the leadership of the Communist Party. The NPC Observer complied a comprehensive list of official documents that were reviewed during the session.
Chinese authorities arrested 726,000 people last year, up 47.1% from the previous year, and formally prosecuted 1.688 million people, up 17.3%, the head of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate told the National People’s Congress. Ying Yong said more than 2.4 million people were arrested or prosecuted last year for offenses related to national security.
A patriotic blogger has caused a stir by attempting to sue Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan, alleging that Mo Yan violated a 2018 law that imposes civil and criminal penalties for insulting China’s heroes and martyrs. Wu Wanzheng, who blogs as “Truth-Telling Mao Xinghuo,” has asked a court to remove Mo’s books from circulation and require the author to apologize and pay damages of RMB 1.5 billion (about $209 million) for allegedly insulting Mao Zedong and Communist soldiers who fought against Japan in the 1930s and 1940s. It is not clear if the court has accepted the lawsuit.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate released four white papers about its work in criminal, civil, administrative, and pubic interest cases in 2023. It highlighted the increased use of self-defense arguments, supporting litigation in individual civil and administrative cases, and filing claims against environment polluters.
Hong Kong
The government proposed and legislators approved 47 amendments to the draft Safeguarding National Security bill as it works its way through an expedited review process. One of the amendments gives the city’s chief executive broad powers to add new offenses and administrative measures through subsidiary legislation in consultation with the Executive Council. The legislature’s Bills Committee completed its work in a single week and the full 89-member body - which no longer has any opposition party members - will begin discussing the bill next week. Meanwhile, the NPC Observer published this analysis of the use of the term “central authorities” in the draft bill.
The Court of First Instance dismissed the appeal of three Hong Kong activists convicted of refusing to provide police with information about the operations and finances of the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Movement in China. Police alleged the group, which held annual commemorations of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, was a foreign agent. Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan, and Tsui Hon-kwong - core members of the Alliance - were sentenced to four and a half months in prison.
A court convicted 12 people of rioting and sentenced them to prison terms of up to seven years for participating in storming the city’s legislature on the night of July 1, 2019, smashing windows and spraying graffiti. Two former reporters who also were charged were not convicted of rioting, but were fined up to HK$1,500 (US$190) for entering or staying in the legislative chamber.
Six nurses accused their male superior of sexual harassment at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Medical Center. Local media reported that some nurses accused the hospital of not taking the matter seriously as it transferred the alleged offender to another department. The hospital said it conducted an internal investigation but did not find sufficient evidence of criminal conduct.
Japan
The Sapporo High Court ruled that denying marriage to same-sex couples violates the constitution and called for urgent government action to correct the situation. The judgment was the latest in a campaign by same-sex couples to force a change in the marriage law through lawsuits. Since 2019, 35 LGBTQ persons have filed lawsuits claiming a constitutional right to marriage equality; six of the seven courts that have issued decisions have found the lack of marriage equality problematic. However, the high court lacks the power to change the law.
A high court allowed the Kansai Electric's Mihama No. 3 nuclear reactor to continue operating, saying it had passed all required safety checks. Local residents who sought an injunction to halt the reactor’s operations argued it was located near an earthquake fault line and that evacuation plans in case of an earthquake are inadequate.
The Fukuoka High Court sentenced the leader of a major crime syndicate to life in prison, overturning a lower court decision imposing the death penalty. The high court found Kudo-kai leader Satoru Nomura guilty of three cases of attempted organized murder between 2012 and 2014, but acquitted him of a 1998 killing.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced a former legislator from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to two years in prison with a five-year suspension for vote buying in a Tokyo ward election in 2023. If this verdict is finalized, he will lose his right to vote and stand for elections during the five-year period of his suspended sentence.
Koreas
A South Korean civic group, the National Action for Judicial Justice, filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials against President Yoon Suk Yeol, the foreign minister, and the justice minister. The civic group accused the three men of helping former Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup flee an investigation by arranging for him to be appointed ambassador to Australia. Lee is suspected of exerting undue influence in an investigation into the death of a Marine on a search and rescue mission in 2023.
The Daejon District Prosecution Office indicted 11 former senior officials in former President Moon Jae-in’s administration on charges of abuse of authority and violating the Statistics Act. It alleged that seven persons manipulated housing price data and four manipulated employment data in an effort to show that the administration’s economic policies were working.
Police raided the operator of an online community as part of an investigation into whether the Korea Medical Association tried to blacklist trainee doctors who refused to participate in a massive job walkout. The association, which has supported the strike, says a document posted online in its name that purports to order a blacklist is a fake.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of South Korea’s main opposition party, the Democratic Party, prevailed in a civil lawsuit brought against him by the family of two women who were killed by Lee’s nephew. The appellate branch of the Seoul Central District Court upheld the District Court’s earlier ruling that Lee did not harm the family by referring to the murders as “dating violence.” The victims were the nephew’s girlfriend and her mother.
Taiwan
The Supreme Court reversed itself and decided that an indigenous man was not guilty of using a rifle to kill protected species without permission. Tama Talum was originally charged in 2013, convicted, and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison. After extensive litigation over the application of laws regarding guns and wildlife protection to indigenous people, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) pardoned Tama Talum in 2021, sparing him prison time. The case was viewed as important because it involved balancing the protection of indigenous culture including hunting rights against restrictions on firearms and protecting endangered species.
The Taipei Department of Social Welfare promised reforms after a one-year-old boy died in foster care, allegedly from abuse. Suggestions include more training for in-home childcare providers, stricter requirements for caregivers, and more frequent home visits by social workers.