March 08 - March 14
China
The National People's Congress (NPC) wrapped up its annual plenary session by approving the 2026-2030 Five-year Plan for Social and Economic Development. The document, which will guide economic decision-making by both government agencies and companies, prioritizes technological development and greater self-sufficiency in tech. The plan and NPC-approved budget aim for a 16.3 percent increase in central government basic research spending and more than 7 percent increase in total R&D spending across society, with a special focus on AI, robotics, bio-manufacturing, and other emerging fields.
The NPC adopted a Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress that requires schools to use standard Chinese as the primary language of instruction. Article 54 authorizes prosecutors to file public interest lawsuits for acts found to damage national unity. The law also aims for “mutually embedded community environments” and allows prosecution of persons outside China whose actions harm “ethnic unity.” The law, which human rights groups decry as assimilationist, takes effect on July 1, 2026.
The NPC also adopted a comprehensive Ecological and Environmental Code, replacing ten existing environmental laws on air and water quality, biodiversity, and carbon markets. The code establishes legal frameworks for areas previously lacking dedicated legislation, including climate change and the green transition. It takes effect on August 15, 2026. The NPC Observer has a detailed breakdown.
A ripple of rare pushback emerged over a pledge in the government work report to increase the basic minimum pension for rural residents by RMB20 (less than US$3) to RMB163 (less than US$24) per month. Some delegates suggested that it should be raised to at least RMB500 ($73) per month in order to cover actual living costs. Urban pensions are considerably higher.
Deputies raised proposals for consideration in future legislation, including establishing a “right to rest” and not respond to work messages after hours.
The Supreme People's Court's annual work report to the National People's Congress clarified that developers of generative AI services who exercise due diligence and cause no actual harm are not liable for AI errors, while drivers who activate assisted-driving features while intoxicated retain criminal liability. Meanwhile, the Supreme People's Procuratorate reported prosecuting 4,739 individuals last year on charges related to data security breaches in fields including AI and e-commerce.
The National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team and a cybersecurity center under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued warnings about security vulnerabilities in the open-source AI agent OpenClaw. An OpenClaw craze has swept China in recent weeks, with local governments rolling out incentives to encourage its use and ordinary internet users lining up to install it on their laptops. But the two agencies advised users to minimize internet exposure and grant only minimum necessary permissions when deploying the software.
The National Medical Products Administration issued the world's first approval for commercial use of an implantable brain-computer interface (BCI) in patients with spinal cord injuries. The Shanghai-based Neuracle Medical Technology (博睿康医疗科技（上海）有限公司) was founded in 2011 and is preparing a Shanghai IPO. Its coin-sized wireless device sits on the brain’s outer surface without penetrating tissue and translates neural signals into hand movements.
Canadian Industry Minister Melanie Joly announced that the government approved TikTok's continued operations in the country following a national security review, subject to new legally binding undertakings. These include enhanced data protections for Canadian users, stronger safeguards for minors, and oversight by an independent third-party monitor. A federal court ordered the review in January when it voided the ministry’s 2024 decision that TikTok was a national security risk and should dissolve.
Hong Kong
The Digital Policy Office instructed government bureaus and departments not to install the open source AI agent OpenClaw or its variants on machines connected to government internal network systems. It said risks include unauthorized data access, leakage, and system intrusion. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority said it had no plans to deploy OpenClaw on its internal IT systems. (See related item above.)
Legislative Council President Starry Lee Wai-king said the body should explore adopting a law enforcement inspection system modeled on that of the mainland’s National People's Congress to monitor whether enacted bills and funding decisions are properly implemented. Lee's remarks followed Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang's call for the Hong Kong Legislative Council to deliver more practical outcomes aligned with Beijing's expectations.
Trial began for an independent bookstore owner accused of operating an unregistered school by holding a Spanish course at the store. Pong Yat-ming testified at the Kowloon City Magistrates’ Courts that he believed the course was legal because the city’s education secretary said in 2017 that courses in “interests” such as dance and acting did not require registration as a school. Pong’s store, Book Punch, holds occasional talks and workshops on current affairs and has been accused by the Beijing-backed newspaper Wen Wei Po of being engaged in “soft resistance” to the government.
Prosecutors charged a 21-year-old woman with possessing an offensive weapon and possessing items with intent to damage property for allegedly carrying laser pointers and spray paint during the 2019 protests in Fortress Hill. The case is one of about seventy remaining to be prosecuted from the massive, months-long 2019 anti-extradition law protests, which resulted in about 3,000 arrests. It was activated after the defendant returned to Hong Kong from Australia.
The Immigration Department arrested fourteen workers and six employers in a three-day operation after finding domestic workers selling massage and manicure services on Central footbridges during their weekly day off. Hong Kong law limits domestic workers to duties for their contracted employer, and both the workers and the employers who engaged them face criminal liability.
Japan
The new Japan Growth Strategy Council created last year by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi selected 61 products and technologies for priority public-private investment, including physical AI systems, quantum computing, and small unmanned aerial vehicles. The advisory body set the target of capturing more than 30 percent of the global AI robotics market by 2040 and is considering raising domestic semiconductor sales to ¥40 trillion ($254 billion) by the same year.
The Foreign Ministry circulated a draft white paper that defines official development assistance (ODA) as a key diplomatic tool for bolstering Japan's economic security, with priorities including energy access, critical minerals, and strengthened cooperation with ASEAN. The draft also warned against debt-trap diplomacy and said the international community should respond collectively. (See this Perspectives essay from Feb. 5, 2026 about Japan’s growing instrumentalization of ODA.)
Nippon Life Insurance Company of America sued OpenAI in federal court in Chicago, alleging that ChatGPT violated Illinois' unauthorized practice of law statute when it advised a former disability claimant to reopen a lawsuit that had been settled and dismissed with prejudice. The suit, which Reuters described as among the first to accuse a major AI developer of unauthorized legal practice by a consumer-facing chatbot, seeks $300,000 in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
The Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, known as the Unification Church, filed a special appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the Tokyo High Court's ruling ordering its dissolution in Japan. The High Court found the church had illegally solicited approximately ¥7.4 billion (about $47 million) in donations from more than five hundred victims.
The Supreme Court finalized a guilty verdict against Vietnamese technical intern Nguyen Thi Nguyet for abandoning her stillborn baby's body by placing it in a trash can. The court distinguished the outcome from a 2023 ruling that acquitted another Vietnamese intern on the ground that wrapping stillborn twins in towels and placing them in a sealed box with an apology letter was consistent with customary burial.
Koreas
South Korea’s Constitutional Court said it has already received its first petitions under the new constitutional appeals mechanism, which allows individuals to challenge finalized Supreme Court rulings before the Constitutional Court on constitutional grounds. The Syrian national who filed the first petition had unsuccessfully sought to cancel a deportation order in the courts.
South Korean lawmakers passed legislation to implement the pledge of $350 billion in US investments that Seoul made last year as part of a deal to reduce the Trump administration’s tariffs. The law provides for establishment of a public corporation to manage the promised investments, including reviewing and selecting projects based on input from trade authorities in both countries. South Korea finalized the tariff agreement in November but strong opposition in the legislature delayed action on the bill.
An Education Ministry requirement that colleges consider school bullying records when deciding admissions takes effect this year. One result has been the emergence of a new industry of consultants who charge fees for erasing or neutralizing the disciplinary records of accused bullies. The number of administrative lawsuits filed by students to challenge school bullying decisions has surged.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor began enforcing revisions to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act that permit subcontractor workers to negotiate directly with prime contractors and restrict businesses from claiming civil damages against striking workers. Business groups are unhappy about the changes, which the government says aim to give subcontractor workers formal bargaining channels in place of street protests.
The National Assembly's Education Committee advanced a bill to close a gap in South Korea's deepfake election law, which currently applies to presidential, legislative, mayoral, and local council races but not to local education superintendent elections. The bill would extend the existing ban on producing or using AI-generated content within ninety days of an election to superintendent races ahead of the June 3 regional vote.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission fined Mercedes-Benz 11.2 billion won ($7.61 million), the maximum penalty allowed, for misrepresenting battery suppliers in its EQE and EQS electric vehicles. It found that the company marketed those models as using CATL cells while concealing that some vehicles instead carried Farasis Energy batteries. The commission also referred both Mercedes-Benz's German headquarters and its Korean subsidiary to prosecutors. Mercedes-Benz Korea said it would file an administrative lawsuit to contest the ruling.
Taiwan
The opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan declined to revoke the lawmaker status of Taiwan People's Party (TPP) legislator Li Chen-hsiu (李貞秀), a native of mainland China whom the Mainland Affairs Council's (MAC) says is ineligible for the position. The MAC says that Li should have applied to renounce her People’s Republic of China nationality before taking office; she also should have submitted proof that she gave up her PRC household registration at least ten years earlier. The TPP partners with the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) to form an opposition majority in the legislature.
The Office of the United States Trade Representative launched two sets of investigations targeting Taiwan (and many other trade partners): one under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 alleges excess manufacturing capacity and overproduction, while the other alleges forced labor practices. Taiwan’s Cabinet said it is confident that neither probe will affect the trade agreement that Taiwan and the US signed in February, which reduced US tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15 percent from the 20 percent that President Trump imposed in 2025.
Legislators from the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) proposed amendments to the Juvenile Justice Act that would prohibit parole for offenders sentenced to ten years or more for premeditated murder or other intentional killings. The changes also would require that parole reviews consider input from victims' families. The proposal follows public criticism that the ten- and eleven-year prison sentences given to two teenagers convicted of killing a fellow student were insufficient.