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Image: Peter Griffin, Chinese Characters
(Publicdomainpictures.net)

China’s newly revised law on the use of simplified Chinese characters across the country has, among other requirements, new provisions increasing punishments imposed on parties who violate the law. If the Chinese Communist Party is indeed interested in resolving the “Taiwan issue” through peaceful reunification, the language differences between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should be addressed. This approach would closely align with the “opinions” enumerated by Xi Jinping during his recent meeting with Taiwan’s Kuomintang Chairperson CHENG Li-wun: “foster spiritual harmony through a correct sense of identity […] with […] Chinese culture”. The revised law does make it possible to create exceptions allowing people in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao to use traditional Chinese characters deeply rooted in Chinese culture. Yet a better and long-term approach is worth considering.

Image: Alix Lee, East District Vista
(Publicdomainpictures.net)

A recent survey conducted in Taiwan has sparked concerns because the results seem to suggest that a significant percentage of Taiwan people would “accept” “One Country, Two Systems”—the principle that China relied on to resume its sovereignty over Hong Kong and Macao in 1997 and 1999, respectively—in order to avoid potential conflict with China. A closer look at the survey question reveals its lack of clarity. Yet a bigger problem is that it is based on an assumption: should “peaceful reunification” with China occur, Taiwan’s relationship with mainland China would be “much like the relationships currently shared by Hong Kong, Macao, and mainland China”. Various sources, including XI Jinping’s remarks, suggest that the Taiwan model would be quite different from the models used in Hong Kong and Macao.

Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Installment, Car, Bank, Percentage
(Publicomainpictures.net)

Judicial protection of intellectual property (“IP”) rights in China has been perceived to be limited because, among other problems, the amounts of damages awarded by Chinese courts in IP infringement cases have historically been small. However, this state of affairs may be changing, as China’s Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) rendered a landmark judgment in a case involving large-scale infringement of trade secrets, allowing the victims to receive an amount equivalent to almost USD 90 million as compensation. As analyzed by Nathan Harpainter and David Zhao, Co-Managing Editors of SINOTALKS®, the innovative approach taken by the SPC to calculate the damages in the landmark case is essentially based on the concept of “unjust enrichment”. The steps followed by the SPC to do the calculation are helpful but inadequate. To help China develop its jurisprudence in this important area, the two co-authors discuss related U.S. experiences.

Image: Petr Kratochvil, American Flag And City Buildings (Publicdomainpictures.net)

On March 6, 2025, Dr. Mei Gechlik, Founder & CEO of SINOTALKS^® gave a talk about China’s Guiding Cases and related topics to a group of attorneys at the U.S. Department of Commerce to deepen their understanding of China’s court system and latest developments.