August 24-30
China
The Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, the People’s Daily, published a strongly worded analysis of Taiwan’s failed legislative recall elections that accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of “manufacturing ‘green terror,’” undermining democratic rule of law and human rights protection, and “becoming increasingly Nazi-like.” The Aug. 28, 2025 analysis was written by Wang Yingjin, director of the Research Center for Cross-Strait Relations at Renmin University of China.
The Ministry of Natural Resources released a report asserting that US freedom of navigation naval patrols in the South China Sea have no legal basis. The report accuses Washington of distorting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, applying double standards, and using its naval patrols to project military power. The report formalizes Beijing’s longstanding opposition to the US FON Program, which began in 1979 to challenge what it deems the excessive maritime claims of other countries including China.
The Supreme People’s Court and Procuratorate issued new guidelines for handling money laundering cases, targeting the concealment and disguise of illicit gains often tied to telecom fraud and online gambling. The judicial interpretation emphasizes recovering criminal proceeds, tailoring penalties to individual responsibility rather than amounts alone, and encouraging cooperation from offenders to combat upstream crimes.
The National People's Congress Standing Committee announced the agenda for its September 8-12 meeting. It will review 16 legislative bills, including 12 returning bills and four new ones. Five will undergo their third and likely final review: the draft Atomic Energy Law, Public Health Emergency Response Law, National Parks Law, revised Arbitration Law, and Law on Publicity and Education on the Rule of Law. The legislators will hear eight oversight reports, including on government debt, climate change measures, and pilot water resource tax reforms.
The Law School Admission Council is suspending online LSAT testing in China after October 2025. It said rampant organized cheating has compromised fairness and test integrity. With no in-person testing currently offered, hundreds of Chinese students hoping to apply to U.S. law schools will be left without access to the exam until stronger security measures are put in place. While some law schools accept Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) scores from their applicants, all ABA-accredited schools welcome LSAT scores as part of applications.
A 25-year-old woman in Hebei Province died from severe injuries allegedly resulting from domestic violence, leading to the criminal detention of her husband and mother-in-law. Authorities transferred the case to a higher level for investigation, and the All-China Women's Federation launched its own investigation. The case triggered public demands to treat domestic violence resulting in death as homicide rather than a “family matter.”
Hong Kong
Final arguments concluded in Jimmy Lai’s national security trial, which began in December 2023 but was repeatedly paused. The former publisher of the Apple Daily is accused of collusion with foreign forces and publishing seditious material. His lawyers argued that Lai was only exercising his free speech rights, while the government depicted him as the mastermind of an anti-government conspiracy. The case, seen internationally as a litmus test for Hong Kong’s rule of law, now awaits a verdict from a panel of three government-selected judges. Lai, 77, is reported in declining health.
Immigration authorities refused to renew the work visa of Bloomberg reporter Rebecca Choong Wilkins, making her the eighth foreign journalist to be denied a work visa or entry into Hong Kong since the 2020 National Security Law took effect. Wilkins has reporting in Hong Kong for six years. The Committee to Protect Journalists called the decision an attack on press freedom, and urged the government to be more transparent about visa decisions.
The Ming Pao newspaper reported that public consultations by the Hong Kong government have sharply declined over the past decade. The number peaked at 45 in 2018 but dropped to just 18 last year, while the average consultation period shortened from 60 days before 2022 to less than 50 last year.
The court system expanded its integrated Court Case Management System to include commercial cases, construction and arbitration cases, and intellectual property cases in the Court of First Instance of the High Court, enabling electronic filings and payments. The system already included personal injury actions, tax claim proceedings, civil action proceedings and employees' compensation cases in the District Court, and some kinds of cases in the Magistrates Courts and Court of Appeals. Further coverage expansions are planned. Law firms and parties are encouraged to use e-filing, with technical support and a 20 percent fee reduction offered for three years. Courts plan to eventually make the system mandatory.
Japan
The Immigration Services Agency proposed to raise the minimum capital investment required to obtain a business manager visa from ¥5 million to ¥30 million, raise the required management experience and academic credentials, and require that applicants provide more supporting documents. Officials say they want to curb fraudulent applications and the use of shell companies to obtain visas. The proposal faces a period of public comment.
In a rare act of contrition, top police and prosecution officials knelt and apologized at the grave of Shizuo Aishima, a businessman who died after being wrongfully detained for months on charges of violating export controls. His treatment for cancer was delayed by his detention. The Tokyo High Court said the investigation, arrest, and indictment of Aishima and two colleagues were unsupported by evidence. The family demanded a further investigation and an end to the practice of lengthy pre-trial detention to coerce confessions.
The town of Toyoake is proposing a non-binding ordinance that urges all residents to limit their smartphone use to just two hours a day. The draft ordinance also urges primary school students and younger children to avoid using smartphones or tablets after 9 p.m., and older persons to put their devices aside after 10 p.m. The proposal has sparked significant backlash from locals who view it as an attack on individual freedom.
Prosecutors raided the office of Upper House lawmaker Akira Ishii, who is accused of defrauding the government by hiring a government-paid secretary who never actually worked for him. Lawmakers can employ up to three secretaries on the government payroll.
Koreas
South Korea’s former first lady, Kim Keon Hee, was formally accused of bribery and stock market manipulation. A special counsel that has been investigating the wife of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol alleges she amassed 1 billion won ($720,000) through a 2010–2012 stock scheme, bribes from the Unification Church, and other illegal sources. Her indictment is part of a broader political reckoning that includes her husband, who is being tried on insurrection charges for his short-lived martial law bid in December 2024.
Separately, the special counsel indicted a man known as Kim Keon Hee’s former “butler” on embezzlement charges. Former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was indicted on charges of aiding Yoon in declaring martial law, perjury, falsifying and destroying official documents, and other charges.
South Korea's National Assembly passed the contentious "Yellow Envelope" bill, which expands labor protections for workers and limits companies' ability to seek compensation for strike-related losses. It takes effect in March 2026. Opposition to the bill from domestic and foreign businesses has prompted the government to create a task force that will develop implementation guidelines.
South Korea has passed a law banning the use of mobile phones and smart devices in schools during class hours. The law takes effect in March 2026. Most schools have already implemented some form of smartphone ban in an effort to improve students’ academic focus.
Taiwan
The Executive Yuan unveiled a Cabinet reshuffle involving 16 officials across 10 government agencies, including changes to the ministers of economic affairs, digital affairs, and health. The changes were a response to the failure of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to win voter support for recalls of 31 opposition lawmakers in a bold attempt to flip control of the Legislative Yuan. DPP legislators pondered their next moves, including adjusting how the party works with the legislature and attempting to regain voters’ trust.
The opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan passed special budgets for economic resilience and disaster relief, including funds for a NT$10,000 (US$327) public handout. The final version lacked funds to improve the power grid, an increasingly urgent concern after a referendum to restart Taiwan’s last nuclear power plan failed.
Legislative Yuan Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the opposition Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers in voicing support for raising Taiwan's defense budget to more than 3 percent of GDP in 2026. Han was meeting with two visiting US senators, Roger Wicker, chair of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, and Deb Fischer, a committee member. President Lai Ching-te of the DPP has pledged to raise the budget to 5 percent of GDP by 2030, a goal also echoed by Han in the meeting.
Prosecutors indicted a former TSMC employee and two other persons on charges of stealing advanced 2-nanometer chip technology secrets to benefit Japanese supplier Tokyo Electron. The case marks the first application of Taiwan's National Security Law to such a theft, with prosecutors recommending a 14-year prison term for the lead defendant.
Taipei City Council Deputy Speaker Yeh Lin-chuan was indicted on corruption charges related to gambling. Prosecutors allege he used proxies to run the Hsin Hsin gaming arcade and manipulated city regulations to benefit his business, earning an estimated NT$3.14 million (US$102,800). Yeh and six others face charges under Taiwan’s Anti-Corruption Act and criminal law prohibiting gambling. Other co-defendants were accused of operating an illegal prostitution business.
Nearly 1,000 supporters of the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) rallied to mark the one-year anniversary of a sweeping raid by Taipei prosecutors targeting former TPP chair and Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). Ko, who has been indicated on corruption charges, has been held in detention since Sept. 5, 2024, except for one brief break. His supporters say the charges are politically motivated.