March 15 - March 21
China
The US announced that President Trump postponed his planned trip to Beijing because of the US-Iran war, and said the two sides are working to reschedule. Earlier in the week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held trade talks at OECD headquarters in Paris and identified potential deliverables for the planned summit, including creating a formal mechanism to manage bilateral trade and investment. They also discussed access to Chinese-produced critical minerals for US industry.
Authorities are ramping up pressure on lawyers defending a group of jailed Christian church leaders. Nearly 20 people associated with Zion Church, a large unregistered Protestant congregation, were arrested in October, including founder Ezra Jin. Now authorities have revoked the legal license of Jin’s lawyer, Zhang Kai, according to the Wall Street Journal.
A fentanyl precursor task force established in Hubei Province in December 2025 has arrested seven persons, subjected a dozen others to “coercive measures,” shut down more than 200 websites, and penalized four companies. Some of the suspects were identified with the help of information from the US Drug Enforcement Agency, according to the Hubei Daily News. China agreed in October 2025 to take steps to stop the precursor trade in return for the US halving its fentanyl-related tariff on Chinese goods to 10 percent.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the State Administration for Market Regulation met with seventeen major electric vehicle makers and directed them to end aggressive price discounting and shift toward innovation-led competition. The three agencies announced plans to strengthen price monitoring and urged companies to accelerate development of domestic automotive chips and self-driving technology.
Hong Kong & Macau
The Macau Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a bill authorizing closed-door court proceedings in national security cases. The bill gives the city’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security power to determine whether a hearing implicates national security and to order it closed, and its decisions are not subject to appeal or judicial review. The bill follows the 2024 arrest of pro-democracy politician Au Kam San on charges of colluding with foreign forces to endanger national security, the first known arrest under Macau's 2009 national security law.
The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals of seven persons convicted of rioting for participating in the July 1, 2019 storming of the Legislative Council, including actor Gregory Wong and children's rights activist Althea Suen. The court found that Wong, who challenged both his conviction and his sentence of over six years, knowingly participated in the riot by entering the chamber and physically interacting with protesters. Suen and four others only appealed their sentences.
Chow Hang-tung, a former leader of the now-shuttered Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, told a court that the Alliance’s annual vigils to commemorate the military suppression of peaceful protests in Beijing in 1989 promoted civic responsibility rather than incited hatred against the Chinese Communist Party. Chow took the stand as she and fellow Alliance leader Lee Cheuk-yan are on trial for allegedly inciting subversion.
A committee investigating the fatal Wang Fuk Court fire in November 2025 heard that a cigarette “most likely” caused the blaze that killed 168 persons and displaced thousands. The committee’s senior council said in opening remarks at the start of a public hearing that “it appears all the life-saving fire-safety measures were not functioning due to human errors,” including fire alarms.
In an effort to encourage more young people to register to vote, Acting Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Clement Woo Kin-man said that persons turning eighteen no longer need to provide documentary proof of address, such as a utility bill, when registering. They may instead make an affirmation before a commissioner for oaths. The initiative follows a decline in registered voters from 4.21 million to 4.14 million, with only 12,125 registered voters between the ages of eighteen and twenty.
Yahoo Hong Kong said it would cease publishing original reports in April and rely solely on partner content until operations fully wind down by the end of June. The company denied any connection between the decision and Hong Kong's political climate, describing it as a reflection of long-term business planning. Yahoo Hong Kong began producing original content in 2021 to fill the gap left by Apple Daily and Stand News, both of which shut down after the enactment of the National Security Law.
Japan
During Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s visit to Washington D.C., the two countries released a plan for building a more resilient supply chain of critical minerals and rare earths. A joint statement said the plan focuses initially on establishing a coordinated border-adjusted price floor for a select group of minerals not yet identified. The two countries also will work to identify projects for mining, processing, and manufacturing critical minerals; coordinate stockpiling; and take other measures to prevent supply disruptions.
Japan and the United States also announced the second round of projects — worth up to $73 billion — to be financed by Japan’s $550 billion capital commitment made during tariff negotiations last year. They include up to $40 billion from GE Vernova Hitachi in Tennessee and Alabama to build small modular reactor power plants, and up to $33 billion in natural gas generation facilities in Pennsylvania and Texas.
Ahead of the visit, Takaichi told the Japanese parliament that the government has no plans to dispatch naval vessels to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, despite a call from US President Donald Trump for allies to protect oil and gas shipments from attack by Iran or its allies. Takaichi said the government continues to examine what Japan can do independently and what falls within its legal framework.
The Cabinet identified 1,489 additional facilities, including subway stations and underground car parks, that could serve as shelters in the event of missile attacks on Japan. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has described the regional security environment as the most severe since World War II. North Korea continues to expand its nuclear arsenal; Russia has reportedly drawn up contingency plans targeting Japanese civilian infrastructure; and relations with China are tense.
The Tokyo District Court rejected a lawsuit challenging restrictions on women’s voluntary sterilization. The presiding judge said that while the constitution guarantees the right to contraception, it does not grant the right to sterilization. The five plaintiffs argued that women should enjoy bodily autonomy. Currently, women can be sterilized only if their spouses consent and if either their life is in danger or they have had children and another would impact their health.
The Ministry of Education proposed new measures to prevent sexual misconduct by teachers, including insuring that teachers do not take photos of students on their personal cell phones and inspecting school spaces to reduce the likelihood of hidden cameras. After public comment, the ministry plans to revise its guidelines under a 2022 law on preventing teacher sexual misconduct.
Koreas
The South Korean National Assembly approved two bills to restructure the prosecution service into two separate agencies to handle serious crimes investigation and prosecutions. The bills follow earlier legislation that provided for the existing prosecution service to be abolished in October 2026. The opposition People Power Party held a 24-hour filibuster to protest the new structure. The ruling Democratic Party argues that prosecutors had become too powerful and abused their powers; the opposition argues that the new agencies will be too weak to stand up to pressure from the president.
The National Assembly enacted the Special Act on the Promotion and Industrial Development of Offshore Wind Power to accelerate offshore wind farm development. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will jointly operate a wind-site information system, while local governments will lead public-private consultative bodies to address community concerns.
President Lee Jae Myung ordered an investigation into police officials who failed to protect a stalking victim who was murdered by her stalker. The victim had reported the suspect to the police six times and the suspect was under several restraining orders at the time. Lee also directed authorities to strengthen protections for stalking and dating violence victims and review possible amendments to the Crime Victim Protection Act.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety issued revised operating guidelines for pet-friendly restaurants, relaxing vaccination verification requirements, table-spacing standards, and facility obligations that had caused operational confusion since the system took effect earlier this month.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare proposed revising the Enforcement Rule of the Public Sanitation Management Act to require accommodation providers to post standardized price lists on online booking platforms. This followed reports of price gouging linked to BTS concerts scheduled around the country through June.
Taiwan
A proposed amendment to the National Security Act (國家安全法) that would impose penalties on people advocating for China to take over Taiwan by force drew mixed reactions from security experts at a legislative hearing. The Cabinet has proposed prohibiting anyone from advocating or supporting foreign countries, China, Hong Kong, Macau or other hostile regimes in launching wars against Taiwan or terminating Taiwan’s sovereignty using non-peaceful means. Some experts found the language dangerously vague.
The Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party approved a cooperation agreement for the November 28 local elections. The two parties will jointly field candidates in selected jurisdictions, prioritizing incumbents seeking re-election. KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said the pact will also serve as a basis for cooperation in the 2028 presidential election.
The Executive Yuan expanded the number of households eligible to hire immigrant domestic workers. Families need only have one child under the age of twelve to qualify, while previously they needed to have three or more children under six. Families participating in the scheme must pay a monthly salary of at least NT$20,000 (US$626), plus a NT$5,000 fee to the government.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs changed the country designation on alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals from “Republic of Korea” to “South Korea,” in response to Seoul's listing of Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in its new online immigration entry system. The ministry set a March 31 deadline for Seoul to change its designation of Taiwan, and said it would apply the same change to Taiwan's arrival card system if Seoul fails to act.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said the threat from China remains serious and effective deterrence is necessary. He spoke after the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded in its annual threat assessment that Chinese leaders do not currently plan to invade Taiwan in 2027 and have no fixed timeline for achieving unification. The US report said that China continues to build military capabilities and contingency plans for a potential Taiwan operation but would prefer to achieve unification without military force.
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted three people affiliated with AI server maker Supermicro, including its co-founder, on charges of conspiring to export more than $510 million in servers containing banned Nvidia AI chips to China in violation of US export control laws. The defendants allegedly routed shipments through Supermicro's Taiwan facilities and Southeast Asian intermediaries.