Extradition

Taiwan

Beijing agreed to return to Taiwan 14 Taiwanese fraud suspects whom the Philippines expatriated to the mainland in defiance of Taiwan's opposition. The measure was taken in line with the cross-strait agreement on joint combat against crimes and judicial assistance,

International Organisations

China and other BRICS countries issued a joint statement, saying the tradition of appointing a European as managing director of IMF “undermines the legitimacy” of IMF. The Europeans are supporting Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, as their candidate for the top IMF job.

Jurisdiction

Human Rights

Eight Chinese-Americans sued Baidu and the Chinese Government at a Manhattan federal district court and claimed damages of US$ 16 million, alleging that there is a “conspiracy” between Baidu and the Government to censor “any political speech that is pro-democracy.” A Chinese FM spokeswoman said China protects internet freedom and that the American court has no jurisdiction in China.

International Organisations

When a UN panel of experts reported suspicions of transfer of “ballistic missile-related items” between North Korea and Iran through China in breach of UN sanctions against DPRK, the Chinese expert on the panel refused to sign off on the report, delaying the report for days before its submission to the Security Council.

Territory - Spratly Islands

A Chinese FM spokeswoman called Vietnam's parliamentary election on the disputed Spratly Islands "an infringement of Chinese territorial sovereignty". Vietnam responded by saying the vote was its "internal affairs" that had been conducted for many years. Others might say the election of the communist-controlled National Assembly should not be regarded as election at all.

Human Rights

After Austria protested against China's detention of Ai Weiwei, a Chinese FM spokeswoman urged foreign governments not even to "comment on the issue", saying, "We hope that the outside can respect China's judicial sovereignty and judicial authorities handling the issue in accordance with the law."

Law of the Sea

In response to a rising number of disputes in the South and East China Sea, China Marine Surveillance said it will add 1,000 officers this year to raise staff levels to 10,000 and will purchase 36 new ships over the next five years

Jurisdiction

Hong Kong

The American IRS will intensify scrutiny of some big banks in Hong Kong under agreements made pursuant to the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) which require non-US banks to screen their clients and hit them with a 30 per cent withholding tax penalty if they fail to do so.

Tibet

Lobsang Sangay, a senior fellow at Harvard Law School, was elected by 55 per cent of the Tibetan voters around the world as the next prime minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile to take over political leadership from the Dalai Lama. As a government-in-exile spokesman called the election "a wake-up call for China", the Chinese Government merely woke up and dismissed it as "an illegal political organisation set up overseas by the Dalai Lama to engage in Tibet independence activities."