March 29 – April 04
Highlights: China’s internet regulator proposes rules for a new AI product - digital humans; Chinese leader Xi Jinping purges another Politburo member; Hong Kong’s government seeks to confiscate properties linked to former Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai's national security offenses; Japan debates a proposal to criminalize damaging the national flag; South Korea’s legislature softens the language used to describe unification with North Korea; the head of Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party accepts a controversial invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit.
China
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published draft regulations for digital humans - computer-generated images of humans that are animated by AI and can interact with real humans. The proposed rules would require prominent labels on virtual human content, prohibit virtual intimate relationships with minors, and bar the use of others' personal data to generate content without consent. Digital humans would also be barred from doing things that are illegal for real humans. The government’s new five-year plan calls for for broad AI adoption across the economy.
The Ministry of Commerce is saying little about its plans after authorities barred the Chinese co-founders of agentic AI startup Manus from leaving the country. A ministry spokesperson, asked what measures China would take in response to Meta’s $2 billion purchase of Manus in December, said only that China supports companies whose transnational operations and technology cooperation deals comply with the law. Founders Xiao Hong and Ji Yichao were reportedly called to a meeting with the National Development and Reform Commission in March and asked about potential violations of foreign direct investment rules. Xiao and Ji founded Manus’ parent company, Butterfly Effect, in Beijing in 2022 but moved operations to Singapore in 2025.
The Ministry of Education expanded its list of prohibited school practices from sixteen to twenty items, adding bans on teachers soliciting payments through livestream platforms, teaching primary school curricula in kindergartens, and falsifying volunteer service records. The list has grown each year since 2024, when it contained twelve items. The ministry acknowledged a problem with enforcement.
The Communist Party Central Commission for Discipline Inspection said it has placed the former party secretary of Xinjiang a member of the party Politburo, Ma Xingrui, under investigation for suspected violations of discipline and law. No details were given. Ma also previously served as director of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission and deputy party chief in Guangdong province. He lost his Xinjiang post in July 2025 and was last seen in public in October 2025 at the party Central Committee’s fourth plenum.
A court in California ruled that Stanford University can keep the diaries and other personal papers of the late Li Rui, a former secretary to Mao Zedong. Li was a well-connected and prominent party intellectual known as a liberal and sharp critic of the current leader, Xi Jinping. Li's daughter began donating the material to Stanford when he was still alive, saying she was following her father's wishes. After Li’s death in 2019, his widow sued in Beijing court for the documents to be returned and won a judgment.
The Ministry of Public Security reported that its Safe Wilderness-2025 campaign filed thousands of criminal cases involving the illegal hunting and trafficking of protected birds, with one Dalian operation alone rescuing more than 12,000 yellow-breasted buntings from traffickers. The ministry said it would shift to a permanent proactive enforcement model in 2026 to address increasingly sophisticated hunting methods including drones and poison, as well as laundering protected animals' illegal origins through online networks.
The Supreme People's Court released eight model cases supporting northeast China's economic revitalization. One court decision from Jilin found that a resident engaged in malicious litigation by copying a rice company's packaging patent and suing it twice after the China National Intellectual Property Administration invalidated his application. The court said the ruling clarifies when IP enforcement becomes litigation abuse, and framed agricultural brand protection as a food security issue.
The National Healthcare Security Administration issued rules expanding its 2021 healthcare insurance fraud framework to address newly emerged schemes, including medical institutions enticing patients to seek treatment under another person's name and drug traffickers obtaining prescriptions using multiple insurance slips. Twelve categories of serious violations now warrant referral to public security authorities for criminal prosecution.
Hong Kong
The secretary for justice applied to the Court of First Instance to confiscate properties linked to former Apple Daily owner Jimmy Lai's national security offenses, adding an asset-stripping dimension to his 20-year prison sentence. Under the National Security Law, property subject to seizure includes proceeds of crime, financial aid received, and tools used or intended for use in committing the offense.
The West Kowloon District Court sentenced thirteen parents and a middleman to up to fourteen months in prison for paying HK$1.1 million ($141,000) to an ESF Wu Kai Sha International Kindergarten administrator to convert their children’s wait-list placements into secured admissions. The sentencing judge said the bribes undermined the school's admission process.
The Tobacco and Alcohol Control Office announced that as of April 30 anyone carrying certain quantities of e-cigarette pods, vape juice, or other alternative tobacco products may be fined or even sentenced to six months in jail. Hong Kong banned the import, manufacture, sale, distribution and promotion of alternative smoking products on April 30, 2022.
The Hong Kong office of China’s Foreign Ministry summoned US Consul General Julie Eadeh for “solemn representations” after the US Consulate General issued an alert warning American citizens that they might be compelled by local police to surrender the passwords to their electronic devices. The new rule applies to persons under national security investigation. The US alert noted that it could affect persons simply transiting the Hong Kong international airport. The Foreign Ministry accused the United States of interfering in Hong Kong affairs.
Japan
New child custody rules for divorcing parents took effect on April 1 in the first revision of parental rights since 1948. Under the revised Civil Code, divorcing couples may choose joint or sole custody, with family courts resolving any disputes based on the best interests of the child. Parents who are rearing children may claim child support from their former partners. Japan did not previously have a joint custody option.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is divided over a proposal to criminalize damaging the national flag. The coalition agreement last October between the LDP and its partner Nippon Ishin no Kai clearly expressed an intent to establish a law against flag desecration. But at the first meeting of a project team of the two parties, some participants called for enacting a bill during the current legislative session while others expressed concern about curbing freedom of expression.
China’s Foreign Ministry said it is sanctioning Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Keiji Furuya under China's Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law because of his advocacy for closer Japan-Taiwan ties. The sanctions bar him from entering China, Hong Kong, and Macau and freeze any assets he may hold in China. The ministry said that Furuya colluded with Taiwanese independence forces, violated the “one China” principle, and violently interfered in Chinese internal affairs. Furuya frequently visits Taiwan and recently met with its president, Lai Ching-te.
The Cabinet adopted legislation that sets numerical speed thresholds for determining when a driver has committed the crime of dangerous driving causing death or injury. The definition will be met when a driver exceeds the speed limit by more than 50 kilometers per hour on ordinary roads or 60 kilometers per hour on expressways, and has an accident that causes death or injury. The charge was difficult to prove because it lacked a clear definition. Violators may be sentenced to up to twenty years in prison.
The Supreme Court struck down the Hokkaido Public Safety Commission's revocation of a hunter's gun license for shooting a bear cub, ruling the act was a protected public service. The hunter shot a brown cub at the request of, and under the supervision of, local authorities. The court decision is expected to curb disciplinary overreach against hunters as Japan faces rising bear attacks.
Koreas
The Chungnam Regional Labor Relations Commission became the first to enforce the Yellow Envelop Act since it took effect in March 2026, making prime contractors more accountable for subcontracted workers. The commission ordered four public institutions to bargain with subcontractor unions, ruling that they exercise sufficient control over the subcontracted workers' safety and deployment conditions to qualify as their employers. The institutions are the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Korea Asset Management Corp., and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science.
The National Assembly amended the Unification Education Support Act to redefine unification education as fostering values necessary to achieve the “peaceful unification” of the two Koreas. The previous language had emphasized teaching the values needed to achieve unification based on democracy and awareness of national security. The revision reflects the Lee Jae Myung administration's shift away from pursuing unification based on absorption toward stable coexistence. North Korea, meanwhile, has declared the South the “most hostile state.”
The National Assembly passed a bill designating May 1, international labor day, as a public holiday for all workers. For thirty years, civil servants, teachers, and delivery workers were excluded from enjoying a paid holiday, which was available only those classified as workers under the Labor Standards Act. The bill requires Cabinet approval before taking effect.
Taiwan
The head of the Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT), Cheng Li-wun, accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit China from April 7 to 12 and said a return to the “1992 consensus” would restore the cross-strait dialogue that Beijing has refused to hold with President Lai Ching-te's government. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council warned Cheng not to endorse Beijing's political agenda, and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party urged the KMT to approve Lai’s proposed $40 billion special defense budget before the trip. The KMT instead moved to postpone cross-party negotiations over the budget until Cheng returns.
The Executive Yuan approved a draft virtual asset service act that would require virtual asset service providers to obtain government licenses and satisfy capital and operational standards. The draft law provides for criminal penalties, including fines of up to NT$200 million ($6.26 million), for unlicensed stablecoin issuance and price manipulation.
The National Human Rights Commission, an independent body under Taiwan's Control Yuan, found that judicial interpretation services and public defense systems risk violating Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The commission called for legislation to establish national agencies guaranteeing competent, impartial interpreters for defendants. The report identified shortfalls in interpreter accuracy, impartiality, and timely document translation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs suspended its plan to retaliate against South Korea for designating Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in its year-old online immigration entry system after the South Korean Foreign Ministry announced technical and administrative changes to the system. However, South Korean officials did not specifically say if they plan to revise the designation. The Taiwan government had threatened to change the drop-down menu in its own online entry system from “Korea, Republic of” to “Korea (South).”
The Taipei District Prosecutors Office indicted former legislative aide Chu Cheng-chi on charges of espionage under the National Security Act. Prosecutors alleged he photographed classified legislative documents and transmitted them to a Chinese contact in exchange for 20,000 yuan ($2,905).
The Kaohsiung District Court ruled that Taiwan's Criminal Code does not recognize a fetus as a person and acquitted a couple of child endangerment charges for conduct affecting their unborn child. However, the court convicted both parents of impeding the development of their one-year-old son and sentenced the father to one year and two months in prison and the mother to a one-year suspended sentence.