A US district court of appeal judge has handed down a ruling against an overseas Chinese association in San Francisco over its removal of a Republic of China (ROC) national flag from its office in 2013 to signify the end of its support for the ROC government.
Justice Rebecca Wiseman said in a written statement that the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in San Francisco should replace the ROC flag in its office.
The ruling was made on the grounds that association president Ted Wong (黃榮達) forced the passage of a resolution to get rid of the flag during a board of directors’ meeting in May 2013, an action which violated the organization’s rules because the resolution failed to get the required number of votes from board members for its approval.
The attorney representing the plaintiff said that the ruling is a victory, because the reasons given for opposing the removal of the flag have all been accepted by the court.
A written ruling is expected to be issued in the next two weeks.
The dispute surfaced after the association announced on its Web site on May 25, 2013, that it had passed a resolution to get rid of the ROC flag by a 21-20 vote, and that it would instead display the US and People’s Republic of China flags.
Founded in 1854, the association, composed of seven overseas Chinese groups, like many other similar groups in the US, assisted in ROC founding father Sun Yat-sen’s revolution to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and have long supported the ROC government.
However, those groups have gradually backed off from maintaining close relations with Taiwan since Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1978 and Taiwan began to promote “localization,” diplomatic sources said.
Association board member Harrison Lim said that none of the board members are from Taiwan and most of the new board members are from China.
He expressed concern that if a vote is held, a resolution to get rid of the ROC flag could easily be passed by a two-thirds majority.
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