March 9-15
China
Zhao Leji, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, said China needs to strengthen legal measures against Taiwan independence and combat foreign interference. He spoke at a symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the Anti-Secession Law. The meeting followed Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's recent remarks labeling the mainland as a “foreign hostile force.” Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the People’s Liberation Army’s chief of the Joint Staff Department, Liu Zhenli, attended the event.
Chinese social media censored coverage of the high-profile trial and conviction of a Chinese PhD student at University College London. The Inner London Crown Court found Zou Zhenhao, 28, guilty of 11 counts of rape involving three female victims in London and seven in China. The police said Zou may have victimized more than 50 other women, based on evidence found in his apartment. Zou filmed some of his attacks and kept some of his victims’ belongings as trophies.
Belgian police searched the European Union offices of Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies as well as 20 other locations to investigate allegations that the company bribed current or former members of the European Parliament to promote its commercial interests. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s Office said several individuals were arrested for questioning.
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) released its 56th batch of guiding cases consisting of five cases involving prosecutorial appeals on behalf of private litigants for retrials in civil disputes. According to the SPP, prosecutors’ offices across China accepted more than 80,000 applications to review the outcomes of civil litigation in 2024.
The day before China’s National Consumer’s Day, the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) issued a judicial interpretation on handling civil disputes involving businesses that require customers to pay in advance for services or goods. The Interpretation Regarding Certain Issues in Applying the Law to Civil Disputes In Consumer Prepayment Cases (关于审理预付式消费民事纠纷案件适用法律若干的解释) explains the recourse for consumers who do not receive what the businesses had promised. The interpretation takes effect on May 1, 2025.
Hong Kong
The Court of Final Appeal will begin live-streaming its appeal hearings on April 1, 2025 in a two-year open justice pilot program. Certain types of cases will not be live-streamed, including national security and high-profile political cases, hearings that concern the protection of interests of children or adults with learning disabilities, or those that involve trade secrets or commercial confidentiality.
Two former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers, Eddie Chu and Raymond Chan, were sentenced to 14 and 32 days in prison, respectively, after pleading guilty to charges arising from a 2019 fracas on the floor of the legislature over a controversial extradition bill. Both are already in prison after being convicted of conspiring to commit subversion for participating in an unofficial primary election.
The Council on Human Reproductive Technology published a proposed amendment to the city’s reproductive laws that would allow frozen gametes and embryos to be stored beyond the current limit of 10 years. The council launched a month-long consultation on the proposed revision with licensed reproductive technology centers and other stakeholders.
Japan
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki said he will ask the Legislative Council, which advises the minister, to review the retrial system for criminal cases. Critics say the Code of Criminal Procedure should be revised to provide clear rules for conducting retrials, including restricting the ability of prosecutors to block retrials and whether judges involved in the previous trial should be allowed to participate in the retrial.
Two high courts issued conflicting rulings in lawsuits challenging Japan’s largest cuts to welfare benefits since World War II—one finding the cuts to be illegal, the other, legal. The plaintiffs in both cases claimed that government cuts to livelihood assistance, implemented from 2013 to 2015, violated the right to live guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution.
The government and the ruling coalition are considering amending the basic law on measures against gambling addiction and prohibiting internet businesses operators from luring people to online casino sites or apps. After conducting its first-ever survey of online gambling in Japan, the National Police Agency estimated that nearly 2 million people are currently using online gambling sites, and that the number of current and former online gamblers is about 3.36 million people.
The head of a minor party was attacked by a man with a knife while campaigning in Tokyo. Police arrested a man in his 30s at the scene. Takashi Tachibana, head of the NHK Party, was hospitalized but reported not in danger. The NHK Party was founded on a call to reform Japan's public broadcaster, NHK. It has two seats in the upper house of parliament.
A man was arrested on suspicion of killing a 22-year-old woman while she was live-streaming on a Tokyo street said the victim owed him money. The suspect said he began watching the woman’s videos and then lent her 2 million yen (about $13,470), but she never returned it.
Koreas
Police in central Seoul increased security measures in anticipation of a Constitutional Court ruling next week in the impeachment trial of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The court has been deliberating for more than two weeks.
The court meanwhile unanimously dismissed impeachment cases against against the chair of the Board of Audit and Inspection and three prosecutors, reinstating them immediately to their positions. These cases were linked to that of Yoon, as the president testified during his trial that the opposition party’s attempt to impeach these four officials was among the triggers for his December martial law declaration. Yoon said that the opposition’s many efforts to impeach high-ranking officials had paralyzed state affairs
South Korea's Supreme Court rejected social media giant Meta's appeal against a 6.7 billion-won ($4.6 million) fine imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission, the data protection watchdog, for sharing at least 3.3 million South Korean users’ information without their consent. Following the decision, the commission said it would proceed with enforcing corrective measures.
Taiwan
President Lai Ching-te proposed 17 legal and economic measures to counter Chinese infiltration of Taiwan’s society. The measures include: reinstating military courts to deal with active-duty military personnel accused of spying for China, stricter review of applications by Chinese citizens seeking to visit or live in Taiwan, requiring disclosure by Taiwan non-profits or religious groups that visit China, and more aggressive efforts to counter Chinese cyber attacks. Lai said that amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法), the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Laws and Regulations Regarding Hong Kong and Macau Affairs (港澳條例), and the Cybersecurity Management Act (資通安全管理法) would be proposed.
Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers proposed amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to impose fines up to NT$50,000 (about $1,520) on Taiwanese who work with Chinese political groups to undermine national dignity. The proposal was made in response to recent cases of online influencers posting pro-China content.
The National Immigration Agency revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. The influencer, surnamed Liu (劉) — better known by her online name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣) — had obtained permanent residency after marrying a Taiwanese man. The agency said it was not immediately deporting her out of humanitarian concerns.