#Legal action

The US Treasury announced its first penalty under outbound investment rules, fining Amidi, LLC US$200,000 for failing to report a US$92,478 investment in Shanghai Qiongche Intelligent Technology, a robotics AI company. The Treasury said the parent of Plug and Play Tech Centre's Chinese fund subsidiary did not submit the required notification.

A federal judge ordered Wanying "Heather" Zhang held in custody, blocking her release. Zhang is accused of being a Beijing agent who filmed the son of a Taiwan leader. US Magistrate Judge Steve Kim sided with prosecutors, who argued Zhang's parents and siblings lived in China, posing a flight risk.

Hong Kong national security police have charged a 52-year-old man with publishing seditious material on social media. The defendant is accused of posting content with intent to provoke hatred towards the central Chinese authorities, the Hong Kong government and the judiciary. The first court hearing took place on Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) charged Zhang Yadong, former chairman of Greentown China Holdings from 2019 to 2025, with conspiracy to accept advantages for allegedly taking HK$20 million (US$2.5 million) in bribes from a mainland Chinese property developer. The bribes were allegedly in exchange for acquiring a stake in the developer's real estate project. The case was mentioned at Eastern Magistrate's Courts.

The Trump administration, through the Department of Labor's inspector general, announced an investigation into nine US universities over alleged J-1 visa fraud, with officials expressing concerns about Chinese scholars and the Chinese government. Anthony D'Esposito, inspector general of the US Department of Labor, announced the investigation at a Thursday press conference.

Cybersecurity researchers from Asia, Europe and the U.S. identified malware in Pinduoduo, a Chinese e-commerce app with 750 million monthly users, that can monitor activities on other apps, read messages and change settings. The app exploited dozens of Android vulnerabilities to collect user data without consent. Google suspended Pinduoduo from its Play Store in March. A company source said a 100-person team developed the exploits to boost sales before being disbanded in early March.