November 3-9
China
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved legislation to allow local governments to issue 6 trillion yuan (nearly $839 billion) in bonds to swap for off-balance sheet debt over three years. In addition, for five years the central government will set aside 800 billion yuan (about $111 billion) from each year's new special-purpose bonds for local governments. The moves are intended to revive the economy, which has struggled to regain momentum since the end of prolonged Covid 19 quarantine measures in late 2022.
The National People’s Congress Standing Committee approved a Preschool Education Law (学前教育法) that calls on government at all levels to support preschool education (although not necessarily to fully fund it). The law also calls for improving security for preschools, putting risk prevention systems in place, and protecting the privacy of preschool children. The Standing Committee also revised the Anti-Money Laundering Law to address new forms of money laundering, and adopted a new Energy Law to promote carbon neutrality and govern the energy market and use of energy reserves.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said it did not believe that the detention of its China president, Leon Wang, was linked to a health insurance fraud case involving the company. The company told analysts and shareholders that the company or individual employees are caught up in multiple investigations in China: one into Wang, who was detained a week ago; one into suspected insurance fraud related to sales of the company’s lung cancer medicine Tagrisso; and one into imports of the cancer drugs Imjudo and Enhertu from Hong Kong to mainland China.
As amendments to the Emergency Response Law took effect on November 1, 2024, a commentary in Legal Weekly expressed optimism that government officials will do a better job of releasing information to the media when emergencies occur. Article 8 of the revised law requires government departments to assist the media in reporting on emergencies and promptly release public alerts and other information about the emergency response. Article 97 says officials who fabricate information will be punished.
The National Intellectual Property Administration published a Report on the Development of the Construction of an Intellectual Property Power (2024) (知识产权强国建设发展报告(2024年)). The report details progress in implementing the government’s 15-year development plan for building China into an intellectual property powerhouse (知识产The law also calls强国建设纲要), such as reducing the time needed to register invention patents, trademarks, and copyrights; increasing the number of licensed patent agents; increasing the number of IP theft prosecutions; and increasing the total damages awarded in civil IP infringement litigation.
Hong Kong
The Judiciary Department said it would introduce security screenings at magistrate court buildings following an attempted knife attack on a judge. A man seated in the public gallery of Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts charged toward the magistrate judge while taking a knife out of a bag. The magistrate was unharmed but police who subdued him were injured. Police said the judge had tried the man on an indecent assault charge.
Secretary for Security Chris Tang and Secretary for Justice Paul Lam said the government faces no time limits for prosecuting the more than 7,000 persons who were arrested in connection with the 2019 protests but still have not been charged or tried. As of March 31, 2024, 10,279 people had been arrested but only 2,961 persons or 29% had begun (or concluded) judicial proceedings.
A magistrate judge sentenced three men to prison for 28 days for firing water guns at police and a TVB reporters during last year's Thai Water Festival. The men said they were just having fun, but the judge said squirting water at close range was unacceptable. The festival typically involves revelers splashing and spraying each other to wash away sins and bad luck.
The Law Society of Hong Kong, which oversees the city's solicitors, said it completed an investigation into sixteen lawyers associated with the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund. The fund, which operated from 2019 to 2022, provided financial and legal assistance to persons detained during the 2019 protests. The Law Society said it sent warning letters of varying severity to the lawyers, but has not yet referred any cases to the disciplinary committee.
Japan
Two opposition parties, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP) and Democratic Party for the People (DPP), agreed that the Political Fund Control Law should be revised before the year’s end, but failed to agree on how. The DPP said it wants to ban “policy activity expenses” that are doled out by parties to executives and other lawmakers without public disclosure. The CDP wants to ban donations from companies and organizations.
Police have brought new charges against a 49-year-old man accused of attacking the headquarters of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and prime minister’s office. The man, Atsunobu Usuda, was initially arrested on charges of obstructing official business. The new charges are attempted murder and violating the law against possession of incendiary devices. Police allege he attacked riot police outside the LDP headquarters with five Molotov cocktails, tear gas, and an unknown liquid. He then drove to the prime minister’s office, rammed his vehicle into security barriers, threw smoke grenades at police, and tossed Molotov cocktails at his own car in an apparent attempt to ignite it.
Koreas
The South Korean government fined Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for collecting Facebook users' sensitive personal information and sharing it with advertisers without users’ consent After a four-year investigation, the Personal Information Protection Commission said the company collected sensitive information from around 980,000 users, including their sexual orientation and political views, between July 2018 and March 2022. The information was shared with around 4,000 advertisers. Meta was fined by the commission in 2022 for tracking consumers' online behavior, and in 2020 for providing users' personal information to third parties without users’ consent.
South Korean prosecutors are seeking prison terms up to ten years for officials of HDC Hyundai Development, a subcontractor, and an inspection company who are on trial in connection with the 2022 collapse of a building under construction in Gwangju. Six workers were killed. Prosecutors told the Gwangju District Court that the collapse was the result of poor construction and supervision.
The Sentencing Commission of the South Korean Supreme Court issued for public comment new guidelines on punishing acts of killing or injuring animals. Killing an animal could result in a prison sentence ranging from four months to three years; inflicting pain could be punished by two months to two years.
Taiwan
Faced with opposition from women’s groups, the Ministry of Justice withdrew its proposal to increase fines for various abortion-related illegal acts. Abortion is legal in Taiwan up to 24 weeks of pregnancy but a pregnant woman can be jailed or fined for inducing an abortion on her own. Carrying out an abortion “for the purpose of gain” or an abortion that results in the woman’s death are also illegal. Taiwan Women's Link, the Awakening Foundation, and other women’s organizations said the ministry’s proposal was a setback for women’s rights.
The National Immigration Agency clarified the requirements for foreigners seeking permanent residency in Taiwan. Applicants must have lived in Taiwan for five consecutive years with at least 183 days of residency per year, and satisfy requirements regarding age, absence of criminal record, proof of income, and the national interest. Foreigners with specific professional qualifications that meet Taiwan's talent recruitment needs face shorter residency requirements.
A radio host and his wife were accused of receiving $2.3 million from overseas sources, including China, in exchange for attempting to influence the island's elections and referendums, including this year’s presidential and legislative elections. The couple were charged with violating Taiwan's anti-infiltration law. They belong to a minor political party that advocates unification of the self-governed island with mainland China.