May 4-10
China
The Foreign Ministry denied that the Chinese government requires companies to illegally collect or store data. It was responding to the Irish Data Protection Commission imposing a 530 million Euro (US$600 million) fine on TikTok for transferring user data from Europe to servers in China in violation of European Union rules and failing to guarantee that the data was shielded from access by Chinese authorities. TikTok said it would appeal the fine.
The Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) jointly released an Interpretation on Certain Legal Issues in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Damaging Black Soil Resources《关于办理破坏黑土地资源刑事案件适用法律若问题的解释》. The interpretation provides lower thresholds for bringing criminal charges when black soil (also called chernozem, a very fertile kind of soil) is damaged through pollution or unlicensed peat mining. Three typical cases were publicized at a press conference. The judicial interpretation took effect on May 6, 2025.
The SPP and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly publicized six typical cases demonstrating collaboration in ensuring that illegal foreign currency transactions that fail to meet thresholds for criminal prosecution are subject to administrative investigation and possible sanctions. In these cases, prosecutors who dropped criminal charges sent the cases to the appropriate foreign exchange agency for further action. China sets the exchange rate of its currency and exchanges are subject to strict controls.
Revised Marriage Registration Regulations (婚姻登记条例) that make marriage registration more convenient took effect on May 10, 2025. The revised rules allow couples to register their marriage anywhere in the country regardless of the registrants’ legal residency, and eliminate the requirement to present their respective household registration documents. Chinese have long been required to carry out marriages, divorces, and many other legal processes at the place of their official household registration, but nearly 500 million Chinese now live outside their registered hometowns.
Hong Kong
A retired New Zealand Supreme Court judge, William Young, has been nominated to serve as a judge at Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal. After approval by the Legislative Council, largely a formality, Young will become the sixth foreign non-permanent judge at the court. Since the start of 2024, six foreign justices have left the court, with some citing the impact of the National Security Law.
Police questioned relatives of another exiled activist, former TVB actor Joe Tay. Tay left Hong Kong in June 2020 and has been accused of inciting secession and foreign collusion for operating an advocacy platform outside Hong Kong called HongKonger Station between July 2020 and June 2024. Police brought Tay’s cousin and the cousin’s wife to a police station for questioning. He is among 19 overseas activists who are wanted by Hong Kong national security police.
US President Donald Trump said US trade negotiators would raise the case of jailed Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai when meeting with Chinese counterparts in Geneva on May 10 and 11, 2025. The talks are the first since the Trump administration imposed 145% tariffs on China. Lai, 77, has been jailed since December 2020 on multiple charges. His trial for alleged foreign collusion and sedition is currently paused and is expected to resume in August.
Japan
Supreme Court Chief Justice Yukihiko Imasaki told reporters that the court will “appropriately and speedily” handle requests for retrial after guilty verdicts have been finalized. Commenting on litigation for same-sex marriage rights, he said that judges should “understand the reality in society” while also making balanced decisions. In the past few years, five high courts have ruled that limiting marriage to heterosexual couples is unconstitutional, but Japan’s legislature has yet to respond.
Legislators met behind closed doors with representatives from social media platforms including Google and asked what steps they are taking to counter election-related misinformation. The legislature revised the Public Offices Election Law after misinformation and disinformation appeared on platforms during elections in 2024. The amendments took effect May 2, 2025.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission said the operators of major ride apps that connect multiple taxi companies with riders may violate the Anti-monopoly Law if they arbitrarily favor one company over another or ask the taxi companies not to use other operators’ apps. It issued a report on the results of an investigation begun in October 2024.
The Financial Services Agency said that approximately ¥305 billion (US$2.1 billion) in illegal stock trades were made through securities accounts that had been hacked in the first four month of 2025. In response, the Japan Securities Dealers Association announced that ten major securities companies have decided to compensate customers who suffered losses.
Koreas
A council that represents South Korean judges nationwide will hold an emergency meeting on May 26 to discuss concerns over judicial independence and public trust in the courts. The meeting was prompted by internal debates over the Supreme Court’s ruling in the election law violation case against Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, which was widely criticized as rushed. Lee is a front-runner in the June 3 presidential election.
South Korean authorities returned a stolen Japanese statue of the Kanzeon Bodhisattva to Japanese officials. The statue was stolen in 2012 from a temple on Tsushima, an island in Nagasaki Prefecture, and brought to a South Korean temple. In 2023, the South Korean Supreme Court rejected the South Korean temple’s argument that it was the rightful owner because it had been robbed of the statue by Japanese pirates in the 14th century.
South Korea’s Presidential Economic, Social and Labor Council, an advisory body, recommended that companies be required to retain workers who wish to continue working until age 65, with flexibility regarding critical details. It stopped short of recommending that the legal retirement age be raised to 65 from the current 60. Eligibility for the national pension system has already been deferred to age 65, and labor groups want the retirement age to be similarly raised. Employers, however, say individual workers should negotiate new contracts if they want to continue working until age 65.
Taiwan
The Mainland Affairs Council said a thorough investigation of more than 370,000 military personnel, civil servants, and public-school teachers identified just two persons holding mainland Chinese ID cards and 75 with Chinese residence permits. Taiwanese are barred from holding either because those documents imply Chinese citizenship. President Lai Ching-te’s government began taking enforcement action this year out of concern about possible mainland infiltration.
The Executive Yuan approved draft legislation that would impose fines on child care providers found to have improperly disciplined, bullied, or harassed children ages two and under; in severe cases, the names of the care giver and institution would be publicized. Institutions would be required to preserve video surveillance footage for 30 days. The draft responds to a public outcry following the 2023 death of a one-year-old boy who allegedly was being beaten to death by his caregivers. The bill goes to the Legislative Yuan for consideration.
The Legislative Yuan amended the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法) to add four new national holidays: Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the anniversary of the Battle of Guningtou on Oct. 25, Constitution Day on Dec. 25, and the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve.
A legislative committee passed a preliminary review of proposed amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法). The amendments would raise penalties for ticket scalping, noise disturbances, and stalking offenses.
A Kaohsiung District Court ruled that a woman who tried to cut cable television service to her home, allegedly to force her mother-in-law to leave, is guilty of domestic violence and imposed a 40-day prison term, commutable to a fine. The court said the action deprived the 80-year-old woman of her primary source of entertainment and emotional support.