January 4 - January 10
China
The Ministry of Commerce banned exports of dual-use goods to Japan, but later clarified that civilian users would not be affected. The ministry also opened a dumping investigation into imports from Japan of dichlorosilane, a chemical gas used in making semiconductors. Reports emerged of difficulties exporting some rare earth materials from China to Japan, and slower Chinese customs procedures for goods coming from Japan. China has been putting economic pressure on Japan since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested late last year that her nation's military could intervene if China were to take action against Taiwan.
The Ministry of Commerce said it would investigate whether Meta’s acquisition of artificial intelligence startup Manus in December 2025 violates Chinese laws and regulation. Manus is based in Singapore but its parent company had Chinese investors. Ministry spokesman He Yadong said any outward investment, technology export, data transfer, or cross-border mergers and acquisitions must comply with Chinese laws. Manus has developed an AI tool that can perform some tasks on its own.
Police detained nine preachers and congregants of Early Rain Covenant Church, a prominent unregistered Protestant group in Sichuan province, according to a statement by the church and overseas human-rights groups. Five were released the next day, but church leader Li Yingqiang and his wife were among four persons not released. Chinese law restricts religious activities to a officially registered churches. In October 2025, police detained nearly 30 people from another underground Christian group, the Zion church, and in December, police in Wenzhou detained more than a hundred members of the Yayang Church. Wenzhou authorities began dismantling the church building this week.
Cambodia said it arrested and extradited to China the chairman of the Prince Holding Group, a casino and real estate company accused of running a huge multinational online scam operation making heavy use of forced labor. Chen Zhi, 38, who was born in China but took Cambodian citizenship, and two other Chinese citizens were extradited at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen was also wanted by US authorities on criminal charges including fraud and money laundering. The US and UK imposed coordinated sanctions against Chen, the Prince Holding Group, and affiliated companies in October 2025.
A Guangzhou court sentenced Tian Hong, a former world record holder in rifle shooting, to ten years in prison for smuggling 2,446 firearm parts from Germany and Switzerland via Hong Kong between 2015 and 2023. Chinese law restricts sports firearm purchases to licensed firms vetted by security officials, but coaches and athletes said those channels take one to two years, creating demand for Tian's services. Tian appealed, arguing she acted without criminal intent to address equipment shortages.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that President Donald Trump's withdrawal of the United States from multilateral institutions risks undermining UN-centered global governance and spreading "the law of the jungle." Trump signed an executive order suspending American support for sixty-six international organizations and conventions, including thirty-one UN agencies and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Shanghai government's deputy secretary general announced a task force to ensure that manufacturers pay supply-chain vendors promptly. Some manufacturers have been extending payment cycles for as long as a year. Authorities will strengthen supervision and introduce an information disclosure mechanism to publicly identify companies that fail to comply. The initiative primarily targets electric vehicle assemblers that delayed payments to suppliers to free up cash for price wars.
Hong Kong
The POD Research Institute, a think tank led by barrister and Executive Council member Ronny Tong, released a report calling for Hong Kong to criminalize bid-rigging in the building maintenance sector. The report said the Competition Ordinance currently allows only financial penalties for bid-rigging, not imprisonment, which it said contributes to high costs and substandard work. The report follows a fire in a high-rise residential estate that killed at least 161 people, with authorities linking the incident to corruption in the estate's renovation project.
The West Kowloon Magistrates’ Court remanded a 61-year-old man into custody for publishing allegedly seditious posts on Facebook between March 2024 and November 2025, when he was arrested. The charge carries up to seven years in prison. During his brief court appearance, no details of his posts were shared, but local media said the defendant is an active member of Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that is illegal in mainland China.
The Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong proposed in a new report that legislation be drafted to target five types of cyber-crime, including illegal access to programs or data, illegal interception of computer data, illegal interference with computer data, and illegal interference with computer systems. The law should have extra-territorial effect, it proposed.
Japan
Japanese officials responded angrily to China’s ban on exports of dual-use goods. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara called the ban “absolutely unacceptable and deeply regrettable,” saying it deviates from international practice by targeting only Japan. Vice Foreign Minister Takehiro Funakoshi protested to Chinese Ambassador Wu Jianghao and demanded China withdraw the measures, but Wu rejected the protest.
The National Police Agency released a report proposing stronger penalties for illegally buying bank accounts that are then used to launder scam proceeds. The report said that criminal organizations paid an average of ¥35,000 (US$220) per bank account in 2024 to launder illicit funds, 1.5 times higher than in 2011-2012. The agency plans to submit a bill to parliament revising the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds.
The Foreign Ministry said it plans to create an institution this year to carry out cross-ministerial reviews of foreign investments in Japanese companies. It said the new entity would resemble the US Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and would have the power to force the foreign investors to sell investments deemed to pose risks to national or economic security. Currently, only foreign investors in sectors critical to economic or national security are required to notify the government in advance of investing in a Japanese company.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority suspended its safety review of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant after determining that operator Chubu Electric Power Co. deliberately falsified earthquake data to understate seismic risks. Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka said the company manipulated assessments of the maximum earthquake shaking the plant must withstand, requiring the review to be redone. The plant is located within the anticipated epicenter zone of a Nankai Trough earthquake in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Koreas
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung visited China and asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to mediate the North Korean nuclear crisis and ease animosities between the two Koreas. Since taking office last June, Lee’s liberal government has been pushing to reopen talks with North Korea, but Pyongyang has not responded. Lee later said that his visit established a foundation for the full restoration of relations with Beijing, and that South Korea must engage in “pragmatic diplomacy centered on national interests.” Bilateral relations have been strained for years over a host of issues, including Korea’s installation of a US anti-missile defense system.
Two lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party lost their parliamentary seats when the Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings on election law violations. The court confirmed a fine against Rep. Yi Byeong-jin on charges of under-reporting his assets during the parliamentary elections in April 2024. It also confirmed a lower court ruling that sentenced Rep. Shin Yeong-dae's former campaign manager to a suspended prison term for distorting a party opinion poll in the lead-up to the 2024 elections.
South Korea's Defense Ministry reform committee on counterintelligence recommended dismantling the Defense Counterintelligence Command, which allegedly supported former President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law declaration. The command's investigation authority would be shifted to the Criminal Investigation Command, while counterintelligence functions would move to a civilian-led agency. The plan would eliminate the command's personnel background check authority, which critics said enabled political surveillance of military personnel.
South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest warrant for Jeon Kwang-hoon, lead pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, for allegedly inciting a riot outside the Seoul Western District Court on January 19, 2025. The riot erupted after the court extended former President Yoon Suk Yeol's detention over his December 3, 2024 martial law declaration. Jeon faces charges of inciting trespassing and obstruction of official duties.
Taiwan
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said it added the names of two senior Taiwan government officials to a list of separatists subject to sanctions. It named Taiwan Interior Minister Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) and Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) as “Taiwanese independence diehards” and Chen Shu-yi (陳舒怡) of the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office as an accomplice. They are barred from traveling to mainland China or cooperating with persons or entities there. China says it has designated a total of fourteen persons as diehard separatists and twelve as accomplices. In response, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said that those sanctioned by China have implemented strong and effective measures to counter Beijing’s pressure, infiltration and espionage.
Opposition parties again blocked deliberation on the 2026 general budget and special defense budget intended to bolster Taiwan’s defense posture. The government can pay civil servant salaries and make statutory social welfare payments based on the previous year's approved budget, but Premier Cho Jung-tai said funds for national security, subsidies to local governments, disaster preparedness, and new initiatives are blocked.
The Legislative Yuan passed Taiwan's first law regulating food delivery platforms, requiring them to pay workers at least NT$45 (US$1.43) per order and no less than 1.25 times the hourly minimum wage based on each order's delivery time. The Ministry of Labor will enforce the law, draft standardized contracts, and oversee mandatory accident and liability insurance and complaint systems for workers.
The New Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted internet influencer Holger Chen (陳之漢) on charges of public intimidation after he called for military “decapitation strikes” against President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) during an October 5, 2025, YouTube livestream. Chen, apparently addressing China, shouted: “Decapitate Lai Ching-te's dog head!” Prosecutors said his remarks threatened presidential security. Chen, a popular and controversial former mixed martial artist, said he had no intent of threatening anyone.
The Fuchien Lianchiang District Court convicted a Chinese fishing boat captain surnamed Wu (吳) of negligently damaging the Taiwan-Matsu No. 2 undersea cable in October 2025 and sentenced him to three months in prison, commutable to a fine. After paying NT$250,000 (about US$7,910) in compensation to Chunghwa Telecom and more than NT$90,000 (US$2,847) to commute his sentence, Wu was deported to China on January 8.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office Intellectual Property Branch indicted former TSMC engineer Chen Li-ming (陳力銘) and current TSMC employee Chen Wei-chieh (陳韋傑) on charges of stealing TSMC's 14-nanometer technology secrets and transmitting them to Tokyo Electron Taiwan, where Chen Li-ming worked. Prosecutors charged both under the National Security Act for reproducing national core key technology trade secrets.
The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court sentenced a former member of the Coast Guard to seven years and eight months in prison for leaking national and military secrets to China for almost two years, earning more than NT$580,000 (US$18,403) in criminal proceeds.
The Ci’aotou District Prosecutors' Office indicted a former Marine Corps petty officer for allegedly pledging allegiance to China and selling military secrets while on active duty. Chen filmed videos holding China's flag, leaked weapons and amphibious assault vehicle documents, and informed his Chinese contact of President Lai’s unannounced base visit. He was paid NT$210,000 (US$6,626).
The Ministry of Labor reached an agreement with Indonesia to expand its direct hiring program to construction, slaughtering, and offshore fishing sectors. Employers can now recruit Indonesian workers through the ministry's service center without using private brokers, reducing recruitment costs.