October 13-19
China
The China Law Society issued its annual report on the rule of law for 2023. The report summarizes legislation passed in 2023 as well as party-state activities to promote and celebrate Xi Jinping thought on the rule of law.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) said it will discontinue use of all “unnecessary, inappropriate and unreasonable” performance evaluation indicators for lower-level prosecutors’ offices across the country. It said one-size-fits-all evaluation tools should not be imposed on prosecutors facing different local social and economic conditions. The SPP released a set of evaluation indicators to monitor case quality in 2020, and has since reduced the number of indicators from 60 to 38.
Three senior officials were sentenced to death with two years reprieve for taking bribes. Wang Dawei (王大伟), former head of the Public Security Department of Liaoning province, Fan Yifei (范一飞), former head of the People’s Bank of China, and Jiang Jie (姜杰), former leader of the political advisory body of Tibet, were convicted in separate prosecutions.
The law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP said it is closing its Shanghai office in response to changed market conditions. The firm still has offices in Beijing and Hong Kong. Reed Smith, Perkins Coie, Dechert, Morrison & Foerster and Sidley Austin are among other big firms that have said they would close offices since the spring.
A Chinese national pleaded guilty to illegally exporting US technology to a prohibited user in China, according to the Courtroom News Service. Lin Chen, 65, admitted that he knowingly attempted to buy a wafer-cutting machine used to process electronic semiconductors to eventually sell to a company on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List.
Hong Kong
Chief Executive John Lee announced measures to boost the economy and increase the supply of affordable housing in his annual policy address. Among other things, Lee said that authorities will streamline the procedures to list on Hong Kong’s stock market, increase the issuance of renminbi bonds, encourage more mainland tourism to Hong Kong, increase the public housing supply, subsidize apartment purchases by young people, and attract more international talent. Lee also announced a deep cut in duties on imported liquor in a bid to restore the city’s reputation as a travel destination with vibrant nightlife.
Hong Kong will pass a law to phase out subdivided flats smaller than 86 square feet and ensure they have windows and a toilet, Chief Executive John Lee said in his annual policy address. One civic group expressed disappointment that he did not propose any measures to rehouse persons who would be affected by the law. Others said the move would not resolve Hong Kong’s longstanding housing shortage.
Following Lee’s speech, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Securities and Futures Commission jointly announced that for companies already fully compliant with Hong Kong listing requirements, regulators would compress their question period to 30-40 business days. The total time to debut could be less than 100 business days, compared with the current median time of 173 business days.
A judge sentenced six policemen to prison terms ranging from 25 to 41 months for harassing homeless people and trying to cover it up. The judge found that the police had falsely accused two homeless Vietnamese men of possessing illegal drugs.
Japan
US lawmakers urged Japan to strengthen restrictions on sales of chip-making equipment to China. In a letter to Japanese Ambassador to the US Shigeo Yamada, the top Republican and Democrat on the House China Select Committee warned that if Tokyo fails to act, Washington could impose its own curbs on Japanese companies or bar toolmakers that sell to China from receiving US semiconductor subsidies.
The Ministry of Justice is expected to revise the volunteer probation officers law in hopes of addressing a worsening shortage of officers and other systemic problems. The probation officers meet regularly with parolees and other persons released from prison and assist in their rehabilitation. About 40% of the officers are age 70 or older, and the system is struggling to find younger replacements.
Two courts upheld the constitutionality of Japan’s ban on dual citizenship. The Fukuoka High Court rejected a challenge by a 77-year-old woman who was born and raised in Japan but became an American after moving to the US. The court said the ban is reasonable and that there is little need for dual nationalities. In the second case, the Tokyo District Court said that the adoptive parents of a 14-year-old boy who was born a Japanese citizen could validly register him as a British citizen, thereby invalidating his Japanese citizenship. The boy challenged both the dual citizenship ban and the right of his adoptive parents to choose his citizenship.
Koreas
The Changwon District Court ruled that a 2023 violent attack on a convenience store clerk, allegedly triggered by her short hair, constituted a misogynistic hate crime. It was the first time a Korean court explicitly recognized misogyny as the motive for a hate crime. The court upheld a lower court’s three-year sentence for the attacker.
The Seoul High Court ordered the state to pay 900 million won (USD 665,636) in compensation to an 82-year-old man who was wrongfully convicted of spying and imprisoned more than five decades ago. Kim Shin-geun requested a retrial in 2022 and was acquitted on the grounds that the evidence used to convict him was illegal.
The Seoul Western District Court acquitted the former chief of Seoul police and two other officers of professional negligence in connection with a Halloween crowd crush in which 159 persons died in 2022. Victims’ relatives issued a statement urging the prosecution to appeal. The same court recently convicted a former district-level police chief and another police officer of professional negligence in the crush, but apparently considered the municipal-level police officials too remote from the scene.
Taiwan
The Judicial Yuan said the Constitutional Court will issue a decision on Oct. 25 about the constitutionality of controversial legal amendments passed by the Legislative Yuan in May that give the legislature broad investigative powers and the authority to hold executive branch officials in contempt. The amendments, promoted by the Nationalist or Kuomintang Party and Taiwan People’s Party over the opposition of the Democratic Progressive Party, which holds the presidency, resulted in brawls in the legislature’ and protests on the streets.
The Supreme Court upheld the 26-year prison term given to a taekwondo coach who was convicted of sexual assault and taking indecent pictures of 11 underage girls.