China’s legislature revises the State Secrets Protection Law and adds a vague new category of secrets; the Hong Kong Journalists Association urges the government to clarify the definitions of new domestic security crimes that it proposes to create; Japan’s prime minister vows to curb unethical political fundraising; South Korea’s Constitutional Court upholds a tenant-friendly law and rejects restrictions on fetal gender tests; Taiwan moves a step closer to making it easier for some foreign professionals to gain Taiwan citizenship.

China releases cases to illustrate the liability rules for dog owners and caregivers; Hong Kong’s justice secretary says journalists who interview activists may be charged with abetting them; a Japanese court approves a transgender man’s official change of gender without undergoing surgery; a South Korean court acquits Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong of financial crimes; Taiwan travel agents threaten protests after the government says it will reinstate a ban on tours to China.

China executes three persons in two separate high-profile murder cases; Hong Kong publishes a public consultation document setting out plans to create new national security crimes; foreign-born residents of Japan seek a court ruling that police racial profiling violates Japanese law; a South Korean court orders the state to compensate victims of human rights abuses at a former detention center during the era of military rule; Taiwan’s newly elected Legislative Yuan convenes and chooses a Kuomintang legislator as the new speaker, beginning a new era of divided government.

China’s Supreme People’s Procuratorate intervenes to protect a whistleblower; a prosecution witness in the Hong Kong trial of former publisher Jimmy Lai testifies that Lai instructed him to encourage people to join the 2019 protests; Japan’s Supreme Court agrees to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit over the eligibility of same-sex partners for public benefits; North Korean leader Kim Jong Un calls for a constitutional amendment to declare that South Korea is his country’s "primary foe."; a Taiwanese woman challenges height requirements for firefighters and police officers..

China’s Supreme People’s Court releases guidance about application of foreign law when adjudicating foreign-related civil cases; a Hong Kong court hears final arguments in the trial of 16 pro-democracy activists charged with violating the 2020 National Security Law by holding an unofficial primary election; a court jails the head of Japanese non-profit organization for brokering organ transplants overseas for Japanese in need of transplants; South Korea’s conservative president vetoes more legislation approved by the opposition-controlled National Assembly; Taiwan accuses ten persons of spying for China, including several active-duty military personnel.

Chinese lawyer and writer Guo Feixiong is reported to be seriously ill in prison after hunger striking; Hong Kong police arrest six more suspects in connection with alleged fraud at the Dubai-based cryptocurrency trading platform JPEX; Japanese talent agency Johnny & Associates changes its name to Smile-Up and says it will compensate victims of sexual abuse by its late founder; South Korea’s Constitutional Court again upholds the country’s male-only military conscription system; Taiwan investigates four local companies suspected of helping China's Huawei Technologies to build semiconductor facilities.

China is expected to decide soon whether to arrest a Japanese businessman detained since March on suspicion of espionage; a Hong Kong district court gives prison terms to six more persons convicted of participating in a particularly violent clash with police in November 2019; Japan’s Children and Family Agency publishes a report about its efforts to initiate mandatory background checks for adults who work closely with children; South Korea’s National Assembly votes to lift opposition leader Lee Jae-mung’s immunity to arrest as prosecutors investigate corruption allegations; Taiwan’s Executive Yuan advances a new minimum wage scheme.

Legal experts express concern over proposed revisions to China’s Public Security Administrative Punishments Law; a Hong Kong court says the government has a constitutional duty to provide a framework for legal recognition of same-sex relationships; Japan’s Supreme Court orders Okinawa prefecture to approve a central government plan to relocate a US military base on the island; South Korean medical associations challenge a new law requiring surveillance cameras in operating rooms; a Taiwan court again quashes the efforts of Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je to bring criminal defamation charges against US author Ethan Gutmann.

China bans imports of Japanese seafood as Japan begins the slow release of wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean; Hong Kong’s High Court agrees to rehear the government’s arguments for a civil injunction against the protest song “Glory to Hong Kong”; Japanese legislators consider revising special laws that govern the former state monopoly telecoms company NTT; South Korea considers allowing military conscripts to serve in the police force in response to public concerns about crime; a Japanese city assemblyman and his Taiwanese partner register their marriage in Taiwan.

China says that 90% of criminal cases are being disposed of through its new guilty plea system; Hong Kong’s High Court rejects the government’s application for an injunction against the protest song Glory to Hong Kong; the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights makes its first official visit to Japan; South Korea’s Constitutional Court overturns a parliamentary effort to impeach the interior minister for crowd control failures that resulted in 159 deaths last year; Taiwan revises its Gender Equity Education Act to better protect sexual harassment victims in education settings.