Human Rights - Death Penalty

A senior Chinese judge said China has seen a gradual decrease of capital crime cases since 1997 and less use of severe punishments including life-long imprisonment. He declared that the number of death sentences meted out in 2006 by Chinese courts hit a record low in more than a decade.

See previous post.

Jurisdiction
Finance - Money Laundering

The US Treasury Department announced a decision to bar U.S. banks from dealing with Banco Delta Asia in Macau who had been considered a "willing pawn" in illicit North Korean financial dealings. The US move will allow Macau to decide whether to release an estimated $8 million to $12 million in frozen accounts of North Korea as part of the implemention of a disarmament agreement with North Korea. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman expressed "deep regret" over the US applying its domestic law to the Macau bank. The owner of the bank denied money-laundering allegations against the bank and pledged not to re-establish financial ties with North Korea.

Reparation for War Crimes
Law of Treaties

In relation to a lawsuit filed in Japan by Chinese victims in WWII in which Japan's Supreme Court may make interpretation of certain contents of the China-Japan Joint Statement, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said the joint statement is a serious political and diplomatic document signed between the two governments and has constituted the political basis of the resumption and development of China-Japan relations after the World War II. "No one-sided interpretation of the important principles and issues in the China-Japan Joint Statement, including legal interpretation, should be given by any side," he declared.

See previous post.

Reparation for War Crimes

The Tokyo High Court overturned Niigata District Court's ruling that had ordered the Japanese government and a company to pay compensation to Chinese forced labourers during WWII. The judge ruled that the 20-year limit of their right to demand compensation had expired and the state cannot be held responsible for actions taken before the National Redress Law was enforced in 1947.

See previous post.

Human Rights

A senior Chinese court official said China has strict restrictions on the use of organs of executed criminals, and cases of such usage are "quite exceptional".

See previous post.

Extradition

The Supreme People's Procuratorate said eleven suspects wanted for embezzlement were extradited from overseas in 2005 and 77.2 million yuan was retrieved, North America, Australia, and southeast Asia are preferred destinations for corrupted officials, according to the procuratorate.

Extradition

A Supreme People's Court spokesman said China's promise not to sentence the most wanted fugitive Lai Changxing to death is an essential prerequisite to have him repatriated from Canada and is "the only correct option to punish crimes and safeguard the interests of the nation". The spokesman rejected the view that the promise violated the judicial process.

See previous post.

Reparation for War Crimes
State Responsibility

In relation to a case brought by Chinese labourers against Nishimatsu Construction before the Japanese Supreme Court, a Foreign Ministry spokesman was asked to comment on whether China recognizes its citizen's right to demand compensation from Japan and said China's position as stated in the China-Japan Joint Statement in 1972 remains unchanged. "We hope Japan seriously treat and properly handle the issue with an attitude responsible for the history", he added.

See previous post.

Reparation for War Crimes

The Tokyo High Court rejected an appeal by five Chinese victims who demanded compensation from the Japanese government for their suffering caused by leaks from chemical weapons abandoned in China by the Japanese invasion army. The court acknowledged the fact of injury but emphasised that "the Japanese government could not carry out investigation on and recycle the abandoned toxic gas weapons" in a foreign country.

See previous post.

Human Rights

The US State Department issued its annual global human rights report, which says that China's already poor human rights record has deteriorated further. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. annual report "again ignored basic facts", and willfully distorted and groundlessly criticized China's human rights situation. A spokesman for Hong Kong's Consitutional Affairs Bureau also rejected the US report on Hong Kong's constitutional development, claiming that "Hong Kong's electoral arrangements are part of our internal affairs". Later, the Information Office of the State Council, for the eighth consecutive year, published a report on "Human Rights Record of the United States in 2006" It appears that the Chinese efforts are not aimed at pushing the US to improve its human rights, but rather for the Foreign Ministry spokesman to make the following point: "We suggest the US should reflect on its own human rights problems, and stop interfering in the internal affairs of other countries on the pretext of human rights,"

Diplomatic Protection

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates dealt with over 30,000 cases of consular protection in 2006 and China will soon start to introduce legislation on consular protection.

See previous post.

Arms Control - Nuclear Weapons

After the six-party talks concluded with an agreement whereby North Korea would shut down its main reactor within 60 days before eventually dismantling its atomic weapons programme in exchange for aid of fuel oil, the Chinese top negotiator said the denuclearisation process had been an "important and solid step". China got much of the credit for the deal.

See previous post.

War Crime

In the wake of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's denial of the so-called "comfort women" being forced into sexual slavery during the WWII, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing initially refrained from criticising Tokyo. Later, he told Japan to face up to history and handle properly the sex slaves issue, whilst stressing all the same hopes of improved ties between China and Japan.

Human Rights - Labour Rights

Amnesty International issued a report on the widespread abuse of migrant workers in China. "China's so-called economic 'miracle' comes at a terrible human cost -- rural migrants living in the cities experience some of the worst abuse in the work place," the report concluded. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman acknowledged that workers' rights had been abused "in some places and sectors in China", but still called AI's report "biased and groundless". "Migrant workers have made and are making a great contribution to China's economic growth and construction, and the Chinese government at all levels and Chinese people have high respect for their labour," he claimed.

Human Rights

The annual legislative plan of China's national legislature proposed a law on correction of illegal acts which will take a fresh look at abolishing the long-disputed re-education-through-labor system, or laojiao. The law, which had been listed in the annual legislative plan since 2005, was put aside for two years because of disagreements. The Justice Ministry estimates that about 400,000 people have served their terms in 310 laojiao institutions.

Arms Control - Nuclear Weapon

The Chinese Government adopted amendments to its regulations regarding the export of nuclear goods and technologies for both civil and military use, requiring the importers to fulfill more obligations to ward off nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. A Commerce Ministry official said the amendments are important for protecting China's national security and fulfilment of China's international obligations.

Trade -- Intellectual Property
Dispute Settlement

After the US gave China more time last year to reduce widespread piracy of American goods, the US trade officials threatened again to bring legal action against China through the WTO. China was allegedly responsible for more than US$2.2 billion in copyright piracy last year.

See previous post.

Cultural Property

American law enforcement officers reportedly confiscated a dinosaur egg nest fossil which had been sold by auction in Los Angeles. The fossil was suspected to have entered the US from China illegally.

See previous post.

Outer Space

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China and Russia are actively urging the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva to sign a treaty preventing arms race in space. Later, in response to criticisms by the US Vice President Dick Chaney on China's military expansion, a Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated that China had a consistent stance on the peaceful use of outer space and opposes space-based weapons.

See previous post.

Extradition
Human Rights -- Torture

A senior Communist Party official said that the allegation Lai Changxing, China's top fugitive, will be sentenced to death and subjected to abuse after repatriation is groundless. He said China's promise not to sentence Lai to death means he will not be given death penalty with immediate execution or death penalty with reprieve. The official claimed that China's judicial departments have "strictly" adhered to the international convention and the Chinese Constitution, and banned the use of torture during investigation.

See previous post.

Extradition

Gao Shan, a former Bank of China official who was charged with embezzlement nd fled to Vancouver was arrested and then released by a Canadian immigration adjudicator. His counsel claimed that Gao had good reason to avoid the Chinese justice system because 90% of cases brought before the Chinese judiciary ended in a guilty verdict.

Territorial Disputes
Law of the Sea

An armed Japanese patrol boat pursued a Chinese research ship which was apparently carrying out surveillance activities off the disputed Diaoyu Islands. Japan lodged a formal protest to Beijing afterwards. In response, the Chinese Foreign Ministry reaffirmed China's sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and China's right to conduct scientific surveys in the nearby waters.

Trade
Dispute Settlement

The US filed a complaint with the WTO, alleging that China is providing industrial subsidies, and asked for a consultation process to resolve the matter. A Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman responded that the US action is a "pity".

See previous post.

Genocide

During his visit to Sudan, President Hu Jintao told his Sudanese counterpart that the solution of the Darfur problem should follow several principles, including the principle that Sudan's sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected.

Outer Space

After Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claimed that China's satellite-destroying test had broken "basic international rules such as the Outer Space Treaty", a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman reiterated that China has not and will not participate in an arms race with other countries.

See previous post.