December 8-14
China
China and the United States renewed for five years the US-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement. The agreement, initially signed in 1979 to enable basic research collaboration between the two countries, lapsed in August while the governments negotiated revisions. The US said the revised agreement adds guardrails to strengthen protection of national security and intellectual property. Some Republicans remain critical of any research collaboration with China.
Former soccer star and coach of the national men’s soccer team Li Tie was convicted of accepting bribes and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Li’s prosecution is part of a far-reaching investigation into bribery and match-fixing in Chinese professional soccer. Separately, the former head of the General Administration of Sport, Gou Zhongwen, was expelled from the Communist Party and dismissed from his official positions for improperly accepting gifts and abusing his power. Until he was placed under investigation earlier this year, Gou was a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. He is now likely to face criminal charges.
Nine departments including the Ministry of Public Security, Supreme People's Court, and Ministry of Education jointly issued the Opinion on Strengthening the Implementation of the Domestic Violence Warning System to help police and other government officials implement Article 16 of the 2015 Anti-Domestic Violence Law. The document explains when police should issue warnings to persons accused of domestic violence and clarifies the evidentiary requirements for establishing the fact of domestic violence. Phone recordings, text messages, emails, and testimonies from relatives, neighbors, or other witnesses may be used as evidence.
The Supreme People's Procuratorate issued two documents to strengthen and standardize the assessment of technical evidence in personal injury cases, including forensic examination opinions, investigation records, inspection records, audio-visual materials, and electronic data. The documents are the Work Rules for Handling the Substantive Examination of Technical Evidence in Personal Injury Cases (办理伤害类案件技术性证据实质审查工作规定) and Guidelines for Special Review of the Forensic Examination Opinions of the Degree of Injury in Personal Injury Cases (伤害类案件人体损伤程度鉴定意见专门审查指引).
The Supreme People's Court released six typical cases involving corruption of low-ranking officials working on housing security, education admissions, medical insurance, employment, taxation, and land takings.
The State Administration for Market Regulation announced an investigation into US chipmaker Nvidia over suspected violations of the country’s anti-monopoly law. It specifically alleged that Nvidia violated commitments made in 2020 during its acquisition of Mellanox Technologies. The announcement came days after the United States expanded its list of technologies that U.S. companies are banned from exporting to China.
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Chengdu-based Sichuan Silence Information Technology Company and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced a $10 million reward for information about the company and one of its employees, Guan Tianfeng, in connection with a massive hack of companies worldwide in April 2020. A Treasury statement said the hack stole data and deployed ransomware that paralyzed corporate networks, including for critical infrastructure. A federal court unsealed an indictment accusing Guan of conspiracy to commit computer and wire fraud.
Hong Kong
A court convicted former Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting and six other men of rioting during the infamous July 21, 2019 brawl at the Yuen Long MTR station during the anti-extradition protest movement. More than 100 white-shirted men stormed the station and attacked passers-by and journalists with clubs and sticks. Lam suffered head, mouth, arm and wrist injuries that required hospitalization. Lam told the court he rushed to the scene to help after learning of the attack in progress, but the District Court Judge Stanley Chan concluded that Lam intended to fan the flames for political advantage. Chan said the defendants’ actions exceeded self-defense. Ten white-shirted assailants were eventually convicted of rioting and conspiring to wound with intent.
During Chief Executive John Lee’s annual visit to report to central government officials in Beijing, Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping praised Hong Kong for enacting the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance this year and pledged Beijing’s continuous support for the city’s economic development. Lee, the former deputy commissioner of Hong Kong’s police force and former secretary for security, is halfway through his five-year term as chief executive.
The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced a bill that would eliminate Hong Kong’s distinctive treatment under US law. The bill would amend the US-Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, which allows the US government to maintain separate trade and economic policies toward Hong Kong and mainland China, effectively exempting Hong Kong from sanctions imposed on Beijing. The new bill also suggests establishing a “Hong Kong Internet Freedom Program” to promote access to online information, press freedom, and technologies to overcome internet censorship in Hong Kong.
Japan
The Fukuoka High Court became the third high court in Japan to rule that the country's lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. It held that civil law provisions not allowing same-sex marriage violate Article 13 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to the pursuit of happiness. However, the high court also upheld a lower court decision to dismiss plaintiffs' claim for damages.
A court sentenced a 25-year-old US serviceman to five years in prison for kidnapping and raping an underage girl last year. Prosecutors said the man took a 16-year-old Japanese girl to his residence and sexually assaulted her. Air Force Brig. Gen. Nicholas Evans, commander of Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, apologized to the local media.
Revised laws took effect that criminalize the use of marijuana and provide penalties of up to seven years in prison. Previously, the Cannabis Control Law prohibited the possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana but imposed no penalties for its use. The revised legislation also lifts the ban on pharmaceuticals containing marijuana-derived ingredients, permitting their use in medicine if their efficacy and safety are verified.
A person who does not identify as male or female filed a petition with the Kyoto Family Court to change their family register designation to a gender-neutral descriptor. Their lawyer said the petitioner, in their 50s, has been registered in Kyoto Prefecture since birth as the “first-born daughter” of the household and now seeks to be registered as the “second child.”
Koreas
South Korea’s National Assembly voted to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law. Yoon was immediately suspended from office, but the constitutional court has 180 days to rule on whether the impeachment should stand. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo took over as acting president. Yoon is barred from leaving the country, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials is investigating the legality of his actions, as is a special prosecutor appointed by the legislature. Former Defense Minister Minister Kim Yong-hyun, who allegedly recommended that Yoon impose martial law, was detained as part of the investigation and reportedly attempted to take his own life while in custody.
Taiwan
Following the short-lived declaration of martial law in South Korea, Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) legislator Hsu Yu-chen (許宇甄) proposed steps to make it harder for Taiwan’s president to impose martial law. Hsu’s proposed changes to the 1948 Martial Law Act (戒嚴法) and the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Power (立法院職權行使法) would shorten the time frame in which a president’s martial law declaration must be approved by the Legislative Yuan from one month to 24 hours.
Legislators questioned President Lai Ching-te’s nominees to be president and vice president of the Judicial Yuan, respectively Chang Wen-chen (張文貞), a law professor, and Yao Li-ming (姚立明), a politician and legal scholar. Chang was asked about her position on the death penalty, which is supported by the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) but disfavored by Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Yao’s qualifications were challenged. Huang Kuo-chang, chairman of the opposition Taiwan People's Party said both candidates “failed the test.”
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) asked the Labor Ministry to develop a plan for addressing labor shortages by bringing an estimated 80,000 undocumented foreign migrant workers into the legal labor force. The request emerged from a meeting by Cho and other Cabinet officials with General Chamber of Commerce Chairman Paul Hsu (許舒博) to discuss business needs.
The Ministry of Interior retroactively nullified former Nantou County Councilor Shi Xueyan's (史雪燕) status as a public official on the grounds that she failed to prove she had renounced her Chinese citizenship before taking office in 2021. The decision means Shi should return her salary and other benefits received during her term. Shi, born in China and married to a Taiwan citizen, was elected to the Nantou County Council in a by-election in 2021 and lost her bid for reelection in 2022. The ministry said the Nationality Law requires persons elected to public office to renounce any foreign citizenship before being sworn in. Shi said she would appeal the decision.