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MOFA expresses disappointment at school dorm ruling

The government expressed its regret and disappointment at a ruling by Japan's highest court after Taiwan lost a lawsuit to pro-Beijing students over a student dormitory named Guanghualiao, in Kyoto, Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said late on Tuesday night.

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday called a press conference demanding that the government take responsibility for the case.

Overruled

Japan's Supreme Court on Tuesday overruled a lower court ruling, saying that Taipei had lost its right to file a claim against the Chinese representative to Japan after Tokyo decided in 1972 to switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

"The government's name-change campaign aimed at extinguishing the Republic of China has a bearing on how other countries look at us. Now that we don't value the name of the nation, how can we expect it be respected internationally?" KMT Legislator Hsu Shao-ping (徐少萍) asked.

She was referring to the government's recent moves to drop words such as "China" and "Chunghwa" from the names of several state-owned enterprises.

Guanghualiao, with its five floors and one basement covering an area of 2,130m2, was bought by the Taiwanese government in 1952 to host Chinese students.

At that time, Tokyo recognized Taipei as the sole representative of China.

Dragging case

The former government filed a lawsuit seeking to evict pro-Beijing students in 1967, but the case wasn't resolved until 1977.

The initial ruling supported the pro-Beijing students, but two subsequent rulings backed Taiwan, saying it still existed even if it didn't enjoy Tokyo's recognition.

"As a country ruled by law and regulations that respect freedom and democracy, Japan's judicial system should be independent of any factors other than legal principles. The fact that Taiwan has won the first and the second ruling showed that Taiwan was justified in winning the lawsuit," MOFA said.

The ministry said that Japan cannot deny the existence of Taiwan even if it had established relations with China and that it was unacceptable for assets acquired by the Republic of China to legally belong to People's Republic of China.
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