April 14-20
China
State broadcaster CCTV aired a documentary made by the Ministry of State Security about ten alleged major espionage cases from the past decade to mark National Security Education Day. The cases described include those of Canada’s “two Michaels,” Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were detained in 2018 in apparent response to Canada’s arrest of Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou and released in 2021 when she was released. The documentary also included the cases of Shanghai-based consultancy firm Capvision Partners, whose offices were raided last year, and Lee Henely Hu Xiang, a businessman from Belize who was sentenced in 2021 to 11 years in prison for helping to fund the Hong Kong protests. The second half of the documentary reviewed ten cases of citizen whistle-blowing.
Apple announced that it removed the Meta-owned messaging apps WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China. It said that the Cyberspace Administration of China ordered their removal due to national security concerns. One report said the Chinese government found inflammatory content on the apps about Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress will convene from April 23 to 26 to deal with ten legislative bills, including revisions to the National Defense Education Law, Accounting Law, Statistics Law, Minors Protection Law, and Anti-Money Laundering Law, and a new Energy Law and Atomic Energy Law. Details are in the NPC Observer.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate, All-China Federation of Trade Unions, and Women's Federation jointly published twelve so-called typical cases involving the rights and interests of women and children. The cases focus on such recent hot topics as crimes of obscenity, violent insults against women, child abuse and molestation, civil disputes over alimony, gifts of matrimonial property, rural women’s rights to land and collective economic distributions, vulgar marketing in advertising and entertainment, the accessibility of public toilets, employee rights during pregnancy, childbirth and lactation, and judicial financial assistance for women in difficult circumstances.
Hong Kong
A Hong Kong man who tried to flee to Taiwan while facing charges related to the 2019 protests was sentenced to a total of three years and ten months in prison after pleading guilty to possessing materials that could be used to make petrol bombs and perverting the course of justice. Tang Kai-yin was among 12 persons intercepted by the Chinese Coast Guard in August 2020 in a speedboat. Tang has already served a three-year jail term in China for crossing the border illegally in the speedboat.
A paralegal who is accused of conspiring with former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai against the government told a court that Lai wanted to bring together legislators, overseas groups, the community, and other sectors to achieve a “China implosion.” Lai is being tried on two counts of conspiring to collude with foreign forces and one count of conspiring to publish seditious materials. The government alleges he masterminded the 2019 protests.
A High Court judge approved the Hong Kong Journalists Association’s request for judicial review of the Transport Department’s new rules requiring journalists to seek approval directly from the transport commissioner to access records in the vehicle registry, such as ownership information. The two sides have 14 days to agree on a date for the hearing.
The West Kowloon Magistrate's Court acquitted five people on loitering charges after they allegedly yelled and harassed customers in a store owned by pro-democracy activist Mike Lam. Lam is among 47 high-profile pro-democracy activists charged in an ongoing national security case. The incident at his store followed reports that Lam would testify against his co-defendants.
Japan
The Osaka District Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by two death row inmates claiming that same-day notification of executions is unconstitutional. The plaintiffs argued that the practice means they have no time to file petitions or say farewell to family, and violates their due process rights under Article 13 of the Constitution. According to a prisoners' rights advocate, the same-day notification policy was prompted by several incidents in which inmates took their own lives after being notified of the execution date. Japan had 109 death row inmates at the end of March.
A civil lawsuit accusing police of racial profiling opened with the plaintiffs testifying that they are constantly stopped and questioned without good reason while going about their daily lives. Three long-term residents of Japan with foreign backgrounds filed the suit in January. They allege that their human rights have been violated and are seeking 3 million yen ($20,000) in punitive damages per plaintiff, plus 300,000 yen ($2,000) per plaintiff in legal fees. The government is expected to respond at the next court session in July. Japan has no anti-discrimination laws or guidelines to prevent racial profiling, but police deny that they discriminate.
The House of Representatives approved a bill to introduce joint custody of children after divorce. The controversial amendment to the Civil Code now goes to the House of Councillors for debate. Proponents say both parents should be able take part in child-rearing, but critics are concerned that courts may grant joint custody even when inappropriate, as in cases of child abuse.
The Sapporo District Court rejected a request by a group of Ainu indigenous people for exemption from a ban on commercial salmon fishing in a river where their ancestors fished for centuries. Ainu are currently allowed to fish salmon to practice their cultural traditions, but not for economic reasons.
The Diet approved a bill to provide timely legal support to needy crime victims and their families. The bill, which revises an existing law, was unanimously approved by the House of Representatives after having already been approved by the House of Councillors. The new support is expected to start by 2026.
More than 60 doctors filed a lawsuit against Google in Tokyo District Court to seek damages for allegedly groundless negative reviews posted on Google Maps. The plaintiffs claimed that Google's failure to address malicious reviews harmed their business and that doctor-patient confidentiality made it nearly impossible for them to post rebuttals.
The Niigata District Court ordered a chemical manufacturer to pay 4 million yen ($26,000) to each of 26 previously unrecognized victims of Minamata disease, a kind of mercury poisoning. The 26 were among 47 plaintiffs who sued because they were excluded from compensation under a 2009 law for Minamata victims. The court found that their symptoms and levels of exposure to methylmercury indicated a high probability that they had Minamata disease. Following the ruling, the Environment Ministry said it would improve the law on compensation for pollution-related health damage. Claims from hundreds of other victims excluded from the 2009 compensation scheme have been working their way through district courts with mixed results.
Koreas
In its first concession since junior doctors went on strike two months ago, the South Korean government accepted a proposal by the deans of major state-run medical schools to let them set the number of admissions for 2025. The strike was triggered by a government plan to increase annual admissions by 2,000 in 2025 (from a starting point of about 3,000) and further in subsequent years in order to meet the needs of an aging population. The government’s refusal to compromise may have been a factor in the People Power Party’s poor showing in the April 10 legislative election.
South Korea’s Supreme Court confirmed the suspended prison sentence given to former Vice Minister of Oceans Yoon Hag-bae for interfering with an investigation into the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014. On the tenth anniversary of the accident, which killed 304 people, the court upheld Yoon’s sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry summoned a Japanese diplomat to protest Japan's assertion of sovereignty over the Dokdo/Takeshima islands in Japan’s annual foreign policy bluebook. Although relations between the two countries have improved in recent years, their dispute over the islands, which lie about halfway between Korea and Japan, remains unresolved.
Taiwan
The Kaohsiung District Court decided not to empanel citizen judges to try a Vietnamese man accused of fatally stabbing his Vietnamese girlfriend in 2023. The 26-year-old man was to be tried under the Citizen Judges Law (國民法官法), but the court said the proceedings will heavily rely on translation services, which could prolong the trial process and distract citizen judges from key issues.
Vice President-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) expressed confidence that Taiwan will soon achieve 50 percent female representation in the Legislative Yuan. Nearly 42 percent of current legislators are women, up from 20 percent in 2002, when Hsiao first became a legislator. She promised that the government will continue to take proactive measures to ensure fairness in the regulatory and legal environment and support awareness and education efforts.