The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights conducts its periodic review of China’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Hong Kong adds national security clauses to land sale and short-term lease documents; Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologizes for an aide’s anti-LGBTQ remarks; South Korea’s defense minister rejects a court ruling holding South Korean marines responsible for massacring unarmed civilians during the Vietnam War; Taiwan enacts a Climate Change Response Act aimed at achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
USALI Faculty Director Emeritus Jerome A. Cohen discusses the trial of "Hong Kong 47"
This Week in Asian Law
UN rights experts say one million Tibetan children are undergoing forced assimilation at residential schools; Hong Kong’s top court says transgender persons can change their gender identity on official ID cards without undergoing surgery; a Japanese district court dismisses the claim by children of nuclear bomb survivors for governmental support; a court orders the South Korean government for the first time ever to compensate the Vietnamese victim of a Korean military massacre in 1968; Taiwan’s Supreme Court sustains a Taiwanese businessman’s prison sentence for selling oil to North Korea.
This Week in Asian Law
Sichuan Province allows unmarried parents to register births; a Hong Kong court prepares to try the organizers of an unofficial 2020 primary election on charges of conspiracy to commit subversion; Japan proposes raising the age of sexual consent to 16 from 13; South Korea’s Ministry of Justice refuses to redefine “rape” to eliminate the need for the victim to prove violence or intimidation; Hong Kongers who want to become residents of Taiwan complain that the process is unreasonably long and difficult.
This Week in Asian Law
Human Rights Watch urges the Chinese government to release zero Covid protesters; Hong Kong’s justice minister promises to revise the law to ban foreign lawyers in national security cases; Japan’s Supreme Court says the disparity in the number of voters in different Lower House constituencies in the 2021 election was constitutional; a prominent South Korean legislator proposes that women as well as men be required to participate in civil defense training; Taiwan announces a new premier as part of a cabinet shuffle.
This Week in Asian Law
China considers new restrictions on the business activities of current and former civil servants; Hong Kong’s chief executive discusses plans for more national security legislation; the Tokyo High Court agrees that former executives of Tokyo Electric Power were not criminally negligent in the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown; South Korea considers amending its civil code to recognize individuals’ right of publicity; North Korea’s legislature holds its annual plenary meeting; Taiwan relaxes its transnational gay marriage rules.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s National People’s Congress says the Hong Kong government — rather than Hong Kong courts — has the power to decide whether foreign lawyers may participate in national security cases; Hong Kong’s Committee for Safeguarding National Security approves amending a local ordinance to block a British lawyer from representing Jimmy Lai at his national security trial; Japan’s ruling party prioritizes constitutional reforms; South Korea’s National Assembly secretariat shuts down an exhibit of art works satirizing the president and first lady; Taiwan’s Supreme Court overturns the conviction of a man who has been serving a life sentence for murder since 2007.
2022 U.S.-Asia Law Institute Year in Review
As 2022 draws to a close, it is clear that Asia remains vital to the security and prosperity of the US. By extension, legal developments in Asia deserve the attention of scholars and the public in the US and around the world. The U.S.-Asia Law Institute at NYU Law School brings you lively conversations, analysis, and research that you won’t find anywhere else.
This Week in Asian Law
A Chinese court exonerates a man after 29 years in prison for rape and murder; the Hong Kong government proposes setting up an office to monitor crowdfunding; the Japanese government considers rewarding businesses that enforce human rights standards in their supply chains; South Korea’s Constitutional Court says a ban on rallies near the presidential residence is unconstitutional; Taiwan investigates whether TikTok is illegally engaged in commercial operations.
USALI Research Scholar Chi Yin writes Op-Ed on China's illegal COVID-19 measures
USALI Research Scholar Chi Yin wrote an op-ed on China’s illegal COVID-19 measures that was published by the South China Morning Post on December 18, 2022: “Law on my side: How Chinese are protesting against illegal local Covid-19 measures.”
This Week in Asian Law
A Chinese court rejects litigation finance; Hong Kong further postpones Jimmy Lai’s trial on national security charges; Japan lifts its ban on women remarrying within 100 days of divorce; a Korean court cancels a disciplinary warning against a Christian broadcaster that aired anti-gay programs; Taiwan’s government issues its first report on implementing the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
This Week in Asian Law
China relaxes its Covid prevention rules; Hong Kong implements a policy to speed up repatriation of asylum claimants; Japan’s legislature bans “malicious solicitations” of large donations; the South Korean legislature decides how people should calculate their age; Taiwan’s National Human Rights Commission urges businesses to protect migrant worker rights.
USALI Affiliate News: Axios quotes Aaron Halegua on abuse of overseas Chinese workers
USALI affiliated scholar Aaron Halegua was quoted in a recent Axios article about the conditions of Chinese laborers working on Belt and Road Initiative infrastructure projects.
This Week in Asian Law
A Chinese court exonerates a man who served 22 years in prison for a murder he did not commit; the Hong Kong government asks China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee to decide whether foreign lawyers may represent defendants accused of violating the National Security Law; the Tokyo District Court rules that Japan’s ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional; South Korea’s Supreme Court rules that transgender people cannot be denied the right to change their legal sex status solely because they have underage children; Taiwan’s voters reject a constitutional amendment that would have lowered the voting age from 20 to 18.
This Week in Asian Law
A Chinese court imposes a lifetime teaching ban on a man convicted of molesting a student; Hong Kong police investigate how a protest song came to be played at the Asia Rugby Sevens final between Hong Kong and South Korea; a panel of Japan’s Justice Ministry suggests the possibility of allowing divorced couples to have joint custody of their children; a Seoul court freezes about US$104 million in assets belonging to Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court is scheduled to hear a challenge to the divorce law.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s Supreme People’s Court issues rules governing the operations of collegial panels; Hong Kong’s High Court rejects the government’s effort to block a UK barrister from representing Jimmy Lai in his upcoming national security trial; Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announces plans to legislate high-pressure fundraising by churches; South Korean labor experts say Twitter’s layoffs in that country are open to legal challenge; Taiwan’s premier says the government will step up its response to cryptocurrency crimes.
This Week in Asian Law
China’s legislature approves revisions to the Law on the Protection of Women’s Rights and Interests; China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepares to set up a new International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong; more courts in Japan rule that disparities in the numbers of voters per legislative seat are unconstitutional; South Korea’s ruling party says it will revise the security and disaster management law following a fatal stampede; a Taiwan legislator calls for new safety guidelines for spontaneous mass gatherings.
This Week in Asian Law
The Chinese Communist Party’s new all-male Politburo draws criticism; Hong Kong’s Security Bureau discloses information about prosecutions and sentences linked to the 2019 mass protests; Japan’s Ministry of Justice moves to revise the sex crimes law but fails to make lack of consent key to the definition; South Korea proposes to lower the age at which youth are tried as adults; Taiwan’s Constitutional Court says the rules under which certain indigenous groups have been denied official recognition are unconstitutional.
Institute News: USALI Executive Director Katherine Wilhelm publishes op-ed in Washington Post
USALI Affiliate News: Aaron Halegua quoted by Sixth Tone on sexual harassment in China
Institute affiliated scholar Aaron Halegua was quoted in a recent Sixth Tone article about sexual harassment in China.