May 18-24
China
The Private Economy Protection Law, which promises fairness and equal treatment to private businesses in China, took effect on May 20. It promises private companies access equal to that given state-owned enterprises to all economic sectors not specifically identified on a negative list for market access. It also bars a range of behaviors already prohibited by existing laws but still prevalent, such as unlawfully confiscating private company assets, unilaterally altering contracts with private companies, and subjecting them to additional inspections and fines. Chinese media hailed the law as a milestone.
The Commerce Ministry threatened to take legal action under China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law against anyone enforcing US restrictions on using Huawei Technologies Co.’s AI chip. It was responding to a warning by the US Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security that using the Huawei semiconductors “anywhere in the world” would violate US export controls. The US bureau later issued slightly less aggressive guidance to say that using China’s advanced computing ICs, including specific Huawei Ascend chips, “risks violating US export controls.”
Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Journalists Association (HKJA) said at least six independent news outlets – including InMedia, The Witness, ReNews, Boomhead, Hong Kong Free Press, and an outlet that declined to be named – report they have been investigated by the Inland Revenue Department since November 2023 and at least in some cases asked to pay additional taxes. Twenty individuals connected to the media industry also have been targeted, including journalists, current or former heads, directors, or shareholders of the news outlets, and their relatives. Selina Cheng, head of the HKJA, said the government is investigating her taxes dating back to 2017 and her parents’ taxes.
Japan
US President Donald Trump announced his approval of a “partnership” between U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel, just months after former President Joe Biden issued an executive order blocking Nippon Steel from outright buying U.S. Steel. Trump’s announcement was made on social media and did not contain details. Some reports said details have not yet been worked out. After taking office, Trump ordered the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a new review of the proposed deal. CFIUS reportedly told the White House on May 21 that any security risks posed by the transaction could be managed.
Koreas
The Seoul High Court overturned the martial law-era conviction of a man accused of violating the National Security Act and the Anti-Communist Law. Kim Dong-hyun, who participated in South Korea’s pro-democracy movement, was arrested in 1982 by security agents and confessed under torture. He was sentenced to five years in prison. The presiding judge in Kim’s retrial offered an apology on behalf of past judges who failed to heed Kim’s pleas for justice.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office reportedly imposed an overseas travel ban on the leader of the Unification Church, Han Hak-ja. South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said the move was part of an investigation into allegations that a high-ranking church official gifted a diamond necklace and two Chanel bags to the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Taiwan
Law enforcement authorities searched the offices of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local chapters in New Taipei City as part of an investigation into alleged fraud and forgery of signatures in the petition campaigns to recall four Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators. Prosecutors questioned ten KMT executives and staff. Prosecutors in other jurisdictions also have been searching local KMT offices and questioning party officials. The two largest parties, the KMT and DPP, have mounted recall campaigns against each others’ legislators as part of what has become a bitter power struggle.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) expelled five members accused of spying for China, including a former Presidential Office staffer. The DPP did not say if the five have been charged. The number of people prosecuted for spying for Beijing has risen sharply in recent years.
The Mainland Affairs Council said it is not considering extending the deadline for the Chinese spouses and children of local citizens to submit proof that they have renounced their household registration in China. The council sent notices in April to 12,000 persons asking them to submit such proof within three months. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said only 1,784 have done so.