May 5-11
China
The Supreme People’s Court released Building and Operation Work Rules for the People’s Court Case Database (人民法院案例库建设运行工作规程). The document lays out two processes for selecting cases that are recommended by courts or by government agencies, social groups, law schools, and individuals. It requires judges to refer to similar cases in the database during adjudication (although the cases may not be used as the basis for judgment) and discuss in their judgments any database cases cited by the litigants. Here are some key provisions in English.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued draft rules to regulate the lithium battery market after rapid expansion of the sector harmed industry profits and led to concerns about overcapacity in the international market. The rules would guide lithium battery makers to reduce manufacturing projects that “purely” expand production capacity, and would require projects built on farmland and ecological zones to be shut down or strictly controlled.
TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit challenging a new US law that would ban the popular video-sharing app in the US unless it is sold to an approved buyer. The companies argue that a forced sale would violate the First Amendment of the US Constitution, is not feasible, and is not necessary given the steps that TikTok is already taking to sequester American users’ data onshore. The suit is in the federal Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
The Qingdao Intermedate Court convicted Li Guohua (李国华), the retired general manager of China Unicom, of taking more than RMB 66 million ($91 million) in bribes and abusing his power while in office, and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. China Unicom is one of China’s three main state-owned telecom carriers, providing mobile phone and internet services.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong lawmakers urged the government to improve its computer security after two more government departments reported breaches of personal data stored on their servers. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department said data belonging to 17,000 people was temporarily made accessible without any password. The Companies Registry said a design glitch had allowed persons conducting searches on the site to obtain personal information, affecting about 110,000 data subjects. Earlier problems were reported by the government-owned technology park Cyberport and the Consumer Council.
The Court of Appeal granted the government’s request for an injunction banning broadcasting, performing, printing, publishing, selling, distributing, or disseminating the song “Glory to Hong Kong,” the unofficial anthem of the city’s 2019 protest movement. The government claims the song is a pro-independence weapon. It argues that an injunction is necessary because Google has refused to voluntarily remove the song from search results for the city’s national anthem, resulting in it being wrongly played nearly 900 times, including at international sports competitions. It is the first song to be banned since Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
Japan
The Japan Fisheries Agency invited public comment on a plan to allow commercial hunting of fin whales in addition to three smaller whale species already hunted. Japan resumed commercial whaling within its exclusive economic zone five years ago and withdrew from the International Whaling Commission, which has called for a moratorium on all commercial whaling since 1982. Japan’s Fisheries Agency said the fin whale population in the North Pacific is sufficiently recovered to allow hunting within limits. The fin whale is second only to the blue whale in size.
The upper house of Japan’s parliament approved legislation to establish a system for classifying government information on economic security grounds. Such information would be made available only to persons who have passed background checks. The law does not specify what can be classified, but information related to cutting-edge technologies and infrastructure is expected to be included. Sensitive information related to defense, diplomacy, espionage, and counter-terrorism is already covered by 2013 state secrets law.
The upper house of parliament also approved an amended law aimed at facilitating the swift removal of defamatory content from social media platforms. Among other things, the revised provider liability limitation law requires platform operators to set up points of contact for accepting deletion requests and disclose criteria for removing posts. It will take effect within a year. The amendment responds to complaints that victims of defamation have struggled to find a point of contact to get defamatory material taken down.
The Osaka District Court ordered a website operator to delete online information about a neighborhood of Osaka that historically was the home of marginalized communities and was targeted in the 1960s for urban renewal under the government’s dowa or assimilation projects. The court was responding to a petition from a resident in his 70s who said the website’s depiction of the neighborhood promoted discrimination and infringed his legal personality rights.
An accountant for a major faction of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party pleaded guilty to under-reporting about 1.35 billion yen ($8.67 million) in political funds. The faction, previously led by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is accused of failing to report all the monies raised by member lawmakers by selling tickets to faction events, creating slush funds for political activities. So far, ten people have been indicted in the scandal and four have been convicted.
Koreas
The Cheongju District Court allowed five transgender men to change their legal sex without surgery, declaring that requiring surgery may be unconstitutional. A Supreme Court guideline says that whether an applicant has received gender reassignment surgery may be factored in when deciding such requests. However, judges do not always follow the guideline.
Prosecutors opened an investigation into the first lady’s acceptance of a gift luxury bag valued at 3 million won ($2,264). Kim Keon Hee, wife of President Yoon Suk Yeol, founded and runs an art exhibition company. The political opposition had been planning to seek approval in the legislature, which it dominates, of a special counsel probe into the handbag and allegations of stock manipulation by the first lady. In January, Yoon vetoed a bill that would have opened a special counsel investigation into his wife.
The Seoul High Court ordered that a former close aide to Lee Jae-myung, head of the Democratic Party of Korea, be released from prison on bail. Kim Yong was convicted last November of accepting bribes and illegal campaign funds in a scandal that also enmeshes Lee. Kim’s appeals trial is in progress.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered the government to compensate a Moroccan asylum seeker 10 million won ($ 7,300) for “torturous treatment” including binding his wrists and ankles behind his back while at a detention facility for foreign nationals. The government said the restraints were necessary because of the man’s violent behavior, including self-harm. But the court said his treatment was excessive, caused significant pain, and violated his human dignity. The Ministry of Justice said it planned to provide detention facilities with rules for controlling defiant behavior.
Taiwan
A court approved the detention of a businessman and two retired military officers suspected of spying for China. Chinese security officials allegedly asked the businessman to invite retired military officers to visit China for meetings. The suspects deny the allegations. Last November, authorities indicted 10 people including active-duty and retired military personnel on suspicion of spying for China.
The Legislative Yuan approved an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would reduce the minimum residency period required for highly skilled professionals to apply for naturalization from three to two continuous years, with a minimum of 183 days in Taiwan each year. Taiwan’s professional basketball leagues are expected to benefit from the amendments, which would allow them to recruit more players from overseas.
The Executive Yuan approved four pieces of anti-fraud legislation that would raise the penalty for convicted scammers, increase police surveillance powers, and require social media platforms to remove scam advertisements. The Fraud Crime Harm Prevention Rules (詐欺犯罪危害防制條例), the Science and Technology Investigation and Protection Act (科技偵查及保障法), the Communication Security and Surveillance Act (通訊保障及監察法), and the Money Laundering Control Act (洗錢防制法) go next to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.
An official in the Lienchiang County (Matsu Islands) government, Liu Te-chuan (劉德全), was impeached by the Control Yuan for soliciting and accepting NT$1 million (US$30,807) in bribes from companies bidding for government contracts, engaging in grant fraud of more than NT$3 million with his two sons, and unilaterally ordering the culling of 83 sika deer. The Lienchiang District Court convicted Liu last year of five charges, including accepting bribes and breach of trust by a public official, and sentenced him to nine years and 10 months in prison. The case has been referred to the Disciplinary Court for civil servants, which could impose further administrative penalties.