Human rights to gain place in Japan's corporate governance code

TOKYO -- Japan will add a provision on human rights to its corporate governance code for publicly traded companies when it is revised next month as allegations of abuses by China in Xinjiang shine a spotlight on the issue.

"Respect of human rights" will be included in the section of the guidelines dealing with sustainability. The planned language will call on boards to view human rights as an important management issue and think more about how to tackle the matter "proactively." The code from the Financial Services Agency and the Tokyo Stock Exchange covers companies on the TSE's markets, telling them to explain noncompliance with its provisions.