April 19 – April 25
Highlights: China threatens retaliatory measures if the European Union adopts a proposed cybersecurity law that could push Chinese firms out of the region’s telecommunications networks and other critical infrastructure; Hong Kong's government proposes closer oversight of contractors with respect to fire safety; Japan lifts its own ban on selling lethal weapons to other countries; South Korean prosecutors seek a thirty-year prison term for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol for allegedly trying to escalate tensions with North Korea in 2024 by ordering drone flights over Pyongyang; Taiwan’s opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan announces plans to hold a roll-call vote May 19 on a motion to impeach President Lai Ching-te, the culmination of a partisan power struggle that began with Lai’s 2024 inauguration.
China
The National Development and Reform Commission instructed several private technology firms — including AI startups Moonshot AI and StepFun, as well as TikTok owner ByteDance—to reject new investment from the US unless explicitly approved by the government. The new policy is an apparent response to Meta's late 2025 acquisition of agentic AI company Manus, which was founded in China but had recently relocated to Singapore. The NDRC is investigating whether Meta’s purchase violated China’s technology export rules.
The Ministry of Commerce warned of retaliatory measures if the European Union adopts a draft Cybersecurity Act 2 that could force Chinese firms out of member states’ 5G telecoms networks and eventually other high-tech industries and critical infrastructure. The act, announced in January but still pending adoption, would require member states to remove identified security risks from their networks, with potential extension to cloud computing, connected vehicles, and semiconductors.
The ministry also placed seven European defense companies on its export control list and banned dual-use exports to those entities because they participated in arms sales to Taiwan. Four of the seven listed entities are Czech companies. Central and Eastern European states have deepened defense ties with Taiwan since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The EU, meanwhile, included Chinese entities on a list of companies that it is sanctioning for supplying dual-use goods or weapons systems to Russia's military-industrial complex.
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) announced it is drafting judicial guidelines for AI-related disputes in response to a rising number of cases involving AI-generated content, AI model parameters, and data ownership. The SPC reported that Chinese courts concluded 908 data ownership and transaction disputes in 2025, an increase of nearly 26 percent over the previous year.
The official current affairs magazine Banyuetan published an investigative report documenting physical and sexual abuse of minors at privately operated youth correction centers. The magazine urged education, civil affairs, market supervision, and public security authorities to jointly regulate an industry that currently operates without licensing requirements. Documented incidents include the 2024 death of a fourteen-year-old who was subjected to corporal punishment at such a facility in Henan Province and the 2023 rape of a fifteen-year-old by a teacher at a different Henan facility.
The Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council jointly issued an 18-point document requiring heavy industries and data centers to reduce carbon emissions, part of an effort to meet China’s 2030 carbon-peak target amid rapid growth in AI-driven energy demand.
The US Treasury Department announced economic sanctions on a major China-based oil refinery and about forty shipping companies and tankers involved in transporting Iranian oil. The sanctions cut off the companies from the U.S. financial system and penalize anyone who does business with them.
The US government’s Office of Science and Technology Policy accused Chinese entities of using tens of thousands of proxy accounts and jail-breaking techniques to systematically distill US frontier AI systems, harvesting their outputs to train competing models without authorization. The administration said it would share intelligence on these campaigns with American AI companies and explore accountability measures against the foreign actors involved.
Hong Kong
The accounting firm PwC has agreed to pay HK$1.3 billion ($166 million) in fines and compensation in Hong Kong for substantially overstating the revenues of Chinese property developer Evergrande, which collapsed under its debts in 2021 and was liquidated in 2024. The Securities and Futures Commission also banned PwC from working for new clients and said it had issued a public reprimand to two of its former partners for misconduct, fining each of them a separate HK$5 million. Mainland Chinese authorities separately fined PwC in 2024.
The Security Bureau proposed closer oversight of companies that install fire safety equipment, including a requirement that such companies obtain approval from authorities before deactivating existing fire safety systems. The proposals would also hold property management companies criminally liable for fire safety failures and sharply increase maximum penalties for the unauthorized handling of fire equipment. A public inquiry into last November’s apartment tower fire that killed 168 persons has heard that fire alarms in the buildings were turned off and fire water tanks were emptied for maintenance.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Hong Kong immigration authorities detained and deported French journalist Antoine Vedeilhe without explanation when he arrived to film a documentary for France Télévisions. RSF said he is the thirteenth foreign media worker denied entry or a visa by the city's authorities since the National Security Law took effect in 2020.
Japan
The government lifted its own ban on selling lethal weapons to other countries. Japan may now sell lethal weapons to the seventeen countries with which it holds defense agreements. A ban remains in place on exports to countries in active conflict, although exceptions may be made for defense-pact partners. The move continues a process begun in 2014 by then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who relaxed what had been a blanket ban on all foreign military sales.
The House of Representatives voted to establish a national intelligence council headed by the prime minister that will centralize intelligence functions currently dispersed across multiple government agencies. The measure, a signature policy of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, is expected to clear the House of Councillors with support from key opposition parties.
About thirty naturalized Japanese rugby players filed a complaint with the Japan Fair Trade Commission and sought a provisional injunction from Tokyo District Court against a Japan Rugby League One rule, taking effect next season, that places them in a more restricted playing category than players of Japanese birth or ancestry. The players say the distinction constitutes discriminatory treatment and is prohibited by Japan's anti-monopoly law.
Nine plaintiffs filed suit in Tokyo District Court against Timee Inc. in connection with its short-term job app, which they said allowed employers to illegally cancel employment agreements at the last minute. They reported experiencing day-before cancellations a total of 135 times and accused Timee of breaching its duty of care. The plaintiffs are seeking ¥3.12 million (approximately $21,000) in unpaid wages and damages.
Koreas
Prosecutors requested a thirty-year prison term for ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol for allegedly trying to escalate tensions with North Korea in 2024 by ordering drone flights over Pyongyang in an effort to create justifiable conditions for declaring martial law. The request came in the closing stages of his trial at the Seoul Central District Court on charges of benefiting an adversary and abusing his powers. Yoon, who maintains his innocence, is already serving a life sentence after being convicted of leading an insurrection by declaring martial law in December 2024.
The Justice Ministry disclosed that Yoon received more than 1.2 billion won ($810,000) in inmate funds during just eight months of detention - more than four times the annual presidential salary. Fundraising campaigns organized by his supporters have yielded more than 27,000 separate deposits. Yoon’s wife, former first lady Kim Keon Hee, was sent more than 93 million won over the same period. Kim is serving a twenty-month sentence for bribery.
A coalition of civic groups led by Lawyers for a Democratic Society filed a constitutional complaint with the Constitutional Court asking it to set a new standard for rape conviction centered on victims’ non-consent. The groups were responding to a recent acquittal in which lower courts applied a standard requiring that violence or intimidation render resistance by the victim impossible or markedly difficult. The courts seemingly ignored audio recordings and other evidence that the alleged victim refused more than seventy-five times.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea found that a psychiatric hospital violated a man's constitutional right to physical liberty by admitting him for involuntary treatment without verifying that the consenting family members were legally qualified to do so. The Mental Health Welfare Act disqualifies anyone in litigation with a patient from serving as a guardian. The man's son faced criminal prosecution for assaulting him, and his spouse had filed for divorce.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would establish a consultation and reporting center to address unauthorized foreign employment in the delivery sector, where Ministry of Justice data show violations more than quadrupled over three years to 486 cases. The city also said it would propose a registration system for small-package delivery operators and ask platforms to verify that foreign riders hold visas permitting delivery work.
American YouTuber Ramsey Khalid Ismael appealed his six-month prison sentence from the Seoul Western District Court for repeated public disturbances and distribution of a non-consensual deepfake video. Prosecutors also appealed, arguing the sentence was too lenient. Under South Korean criminal procedure rules, the cross-appeal removes the restriction that would otherwise bar the appellate court from imposing a heavier sentence.
Taiwan
The opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan announced plans to hold a roll-call vote May 19 on a motion to impeach President Lai Ching-te, the culmination of a partisan power struggle that began with Lai’s inauguration in May 2024. The motion must be approved by at least two-thirds of legislators to proceed to the Constitutional Court, where two-thirds of the sitting justices must vote favorably for the president to be impeached. The opposition Nationalist (Kuomintang or KMT) and Taiwan People’s parties voted Dec. 26 to initiate impeachment proceedings. They held a series of hearings in January but Lai declined to participate.
The Presidential Office cancelled President Lai Ching-te's planned visit to Eswatini after Seychelles, Mauritius, and Madagascar revoked overflight clearances for his aircraft under what the office described as Chinese pressure. It was the first time that Taiwan’s president was forced to cancel a foreign trip due to denial of access to airspace. The US State Department condemned the move as an abuse of the international civil aviation system and called on China to cease diplomatic and economic pressure against Taiwan.
Prosecutor-General Hsing Tai-chao (邢泰釗) filed the first posthumous extraordinary appeal in Taiwan's history, challenging the death sentence given in 2011 to convicted murderer Ouyang Jung (歐陽榕). Ouyang died of illness in January while still on death row. The appeal argues that the Supreme Court sentence was defective because it was made without oral argument and without the unanimous agreement of the sitting judges. The Constitutional Court ruled in 2024 that the death penalty must be agreed unanimously by all judges hearing the case.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare proposed amendments to the Child and Juvenile Welfare and Rights Protection Act that would require background screening for individuals working with minors, including volunteers, camp instructors, and private tutors, to bar those with records of sexual offenses or child abuse. The draft responds to a high-profile case in which a one-year-old boy died from abuse by a foster caregiver, and would be the first major revision to the law in fifteen years.
The Legislative Yuan amended the Amusement Tax Act to abolish amusement taxes on cinemas, live performances, and sporting competitions. The amendment is intended to encourage public participation in cultural and sporting events. Dance halls remain taxable but at a reduced maximum rate.