Taiwan’s recent general elections were accompanied by extensive attacks of online misinformation designed to confuse and disrupt the process. Authors Wen-Chen Chang and Yu-teng Lin argue that Taiwan’s response to these attacks embodies “civic constitutionalism” in action, with civil society organizations taking the lead to identify and correct the misinformation while the government played a supporting role ..read more

Poverty is often the face of a woman. Rangita de Silva de Alwis, a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, hopes that this year’s meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women will help make women the face of anti-poverty solutions ..read more

The Japanese stock market enjoyed an impressive rally this year, with the Nikkei 225 Index gaining well over 20% and achieving its highest level in three decades. Is Japan (finally) back? Bruce Aronson writes that a lasting recovery will depend upon how deeply corporate governance reforms have taken root and what policies have been adopted to counter the drag of an aging society ..read more

China’s newly approved Patriotic Education Law offers a good illustration of what the ruling Communist Party means when it promises to “govern the country according to the law,” writes Ruiping Ye. It means giving policy documents the status of legislation. It is yet another manifestation of the integration of the Party and the state under the current Party leadership ..read more

If China’s Criminal Code could contain only one crime, some Chinese judges, lawyers, and legal scholars say that the crime they would keep is “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” or 寻衅滋事. Luo Jiajun writes that it is no exaggeration to say that this charge could be brought against almost anyone living in China today ..read more

Zhang Jun has been the president of the Supreme People’s Court since March 2023, and his priorities and policy preferences are starting to come into focus ..read more

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been almost universally ratified, but there is a vigorous debate about its real-life impact in promoting gender equality. Carole J. Petersen assesses its impact in East Asia, a region that continues to be affected by Confucianism and entrenched gender hierarchies ..read more

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has been almost universally ratified, but there is a vigorous debate about its real-life impact in promoting gender equality. Carole J. Petersen assesses its impact in East Asia, a region that continues to be affected by Confucianism and entrenched gender hierarchies. This is Part II of her analysis ..read more

Hong Kong’s National Security Law came into effect three years ago this month. One of the Special Administrative Region’s leading legal scholars, Johannes Chan, takes stock of the law’s devastating impact on civil society, freedom of speech, and the legal system itself. He warns that the impending trial of former Apple Daily publisher Jimmy Lai will be a trial of the independence of the judiciary and the integrity of the legal system ..read more

The strategic concept of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” ultimately aims to expand the liberal international order into the Global South, writes Nobukatsu Kanehara. To that end, he says, the West must be united and stand hand-in-hand with rising India ..read more