Gateway Pundit and Wizbang have both linked to a story claiming that the flag of the People’s Republic of China will fly on the South Lawn of the White House on September 20th to mark the 60th Anniversary of Mao Tse-Tung’s Communist Revolution:
The national flag of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will be hoisted at the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on September 20, media reported Sunday.
Chinese associations in the United States had applied to hold a ceremony in front of the US President’s residence to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of PRC.
Chen Ronghua, chairman of Fujian Association of the United States, told reporters that their application was approved not only because of the sound Sino-US relations but also because China is a responsible country.
“Many Americans admire China due to the success of last year’s Beijing Olympics,” said Chen.
More than 1,000 people will attend the ceremony and the performances held after it, according to Zhao Luqun, who will direct the performances.
This story has aroused passions all over the Internet, of course, but there are many reasons to believe that it’s either not true at all, or a major exaggeration of the truth.
First of all, it’s worth noting that the only source for this story is China Daily, a website in the People’s Republic. There is no other independent media source reporting this story and every Google hit I’ve found that references it links back to either the China Daily story, or another source that itself ultimately links to China Daily. If this is such a big deal, then why hasn’t at least the Washington Times picked it up.
Second, the China Daily story itself is from July 13th and has been around for awhile:
The fact that this story has been around for so long and is only now getting play in the blogosphere is, in itself, suspicious.
Third, I asked two White House Reporters on Twitter to comment on the story:
One of them, CBS News’s Mark Knoller has responded already:
That last part of Mark’s response regarding demonstrators is worth paying attention to.
Most likely what we’re talking about here is a demonstration by third parties outside the White House. And what’s just outside the South Lawn of the White House ? The Ellipse, part of President’s Park and a place where demonstrators frequently gather for their own purposes having nothing to do with official White House business.
At the very least, it’s clear that, absent additional evidence, this is yet another faux controversy.
September 4th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
from: http://world.globaltimes.cn
China’s national flag to fly outside White House Source: Global Times [23:39 July 13 2009] Comments By Wen Xian in Washington DC and Zhang Wen in Beijing
The national flag of the People’s Republic of China will be raised for the first time on the south lawn of the White House on September 20. Overseas Chinese planned the ceremony in the US to celebrate China’s National Day, which falls on October 1. “The ceremony has gotten official approval,” Xiao Shuigen, secretary of the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations, said Sunday. According to He Xiaohui, chairman of the Coordination Council of Chinese-American Associations, the ceremony is hosted by overseas Chinese organizations. To celebrate the 60th birthday of China, and to express their love for the motherland, overseas Chinese will raise the Chinese flag at 10 am that day. Chen Ronghua, chairman of the US-Fujian Association, was the proponent of the event. “It was always my dream to raise a Chinese flag in the center of Washington DC,” he told the Global Times. “This year, my motherland’s 60th birthday, is the perfect time for it.” “The ceremony getting official approval is due to the good relations between China and the US,” Chen said. As well as the flag-raising ceremony, there will also be performances, with nearly 1,000 people participating, Zhao Luqun, the director of the ceremony, said.
The White House phone lines have been busy–so not possible to verify whether “official approval” was U.S. or Chinese. The Chinese themselves have done a lot for our nation (railroads, debt, etc) and for mankind, so deserve respect. The Chinese embassy also could not be contacted for verification since their phone number was removed from their website.
September 4th, 2009 at 7:17 pm
from: http://world.globaltimes.cn
China’s national flag to fly outside White House Source: Global Times [23:39 July 13 2009] Comments By Wen Xian in Washington DC and Zhang Wen in Beijing
The national flag of the People’s Republic of China will be raised for the first time on the south lawn of the White House on September 20. Overseas Chinese planned the ceremony in the US to celebrate China’s National Day, which falls on October 1. “The ceremony has gotten official approval,” Xiao Shuigen, secretary of the Union of Chinese American Professional Organizations, said Sunday. According to He Xiaohui, chairman of the Coordination Council of Chinese-American Associations, the ceremony is hosted by overseas Chinese organizations. To celebrate the 60th birthday of China, and to express their love for the motherland, overseas Chinese will raise the Chinese flag at 10 am that day. Chen Ronghua, chairman of the US-Fujian Association, was the proponent of the event. “It was always my dream to raise a Chinese flag in the center of Washington DC,” he told the Global Times. “This year, my motherland’s 60th birthday, is the perfect time for it.” “The ceremony getting official approval is due to the good relations between China and the US,” Chen said. As well as the flag-raising ceremony, there will also be performances, with nearly 1,000 people participating, Zhao Luqun, the director of the ceremony, said.
The White House phone lines have been busy–so not possible to verify whether “official approval” was U.S. or Chinese. The Chinese themselves have done a lot for our nation (railroads, debt, etc) and for mankind, so deserve respect. The issue is only a Communist flag on White House grounds. The Chinese embassy also could not be contacted for verification since their phone number was removed from their website.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
I understand that this is not true BUT the flag will be raised at the ELLIPSE….very close to the White House. To me, raising that flag anywhere near the White House is crazy. Obama needs an education on the history of China. Why doesn’t he invite Venezuela, Cuba and Russia so they can have a BIG Commie party??
September 8th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
Maynard,
The Ellipse is public property, not part of the White House Grounds. If a private group wants to raise the Chinese flag, the First Amendment permits them to do so.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Yea, I know that it is administered by the National Park Service BUT considering First Amendment rights, I don’t think that applies to foreign governments. Not one that does not allow their own people that right.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
And who said the party holding the protest is a foreign government ?
More likely than not, it’s made up of Chinese-Americans or Chinese with American resident alien status.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:03 am
Protest? What protest? I thought it was to celebrate China’s National Day. Was I wrong? That flag represents a foreign nation. To a lot of Vets that were in the Korean War, it would be the same as flying a Nazi flag. Try that on those grounds and see what happens. You are too young to even remember anything about that war but I lost a couple of good friends and was in the service with some of the suvivors. I would not want to be around if one of them saw that flag flying in Washington any other place than the Chinese Embassy. Doug, you and I disagree on another point….hyphenated names…Chinese-Americans, Mexican-Americans. If you come to this country to become an American, then that is what you are……an AMERICAN. PERIOD. If I wanted to hyphenate my history it would read something like…African-Germanic-Native-American-American. What is the point? Just American is find with me.
September 9th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Protest. Ceremony.
Call it what you want.
It is not an official White House event. It’s a private function on public property. And the First Amendment permits it to happen, as it should.
September 9th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
You are right. This is a country of free speech and I will stand by you to defend that. But “foreign flags are ONLY flown on the White House grounds or on Pennsylvania Ave to mark “state” or “official” visits of the countries’ leaders.” That is from FOX NEWS. Now Doug, I would invite you to a trip to Beijing on the 4th of July with an AMERICAN flag and we will wave them for all to see. How long do you thing we will be in China?
September 9th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
1. The flag will not be on White House grounds, but in a public park
2. We aren’t in China, and that’s a good thing.
September 15th, 2009 at 4:59 am
Freedom of Speech, for U.S. citizens, of course must be protected. However, the Department of Interior has an obligation to protect our cultural and historic sites. Flying the communist flag within the same President’s Park South (Ellipse), to me, is a great dishonor to the 7000 combat deaths of 2nd Infantry Division soldiers memorialized right there in the park, and same for the 50,000 U.S. total lives lost during the Korean conflict and to all Veteran’s of the Korean Conflict, many of whom came back permanently injured. If it were “just a public park” and our own flag is also hoisted, since Hu Jintao has a much different communism than that of the 50’s and of the “Cold War”, perhaps tolerable, or even beneficial. However, the Ellipse contains such great significance within our own nation’s history (direct center of our nation from which all distances were measured, union troop encampment, emergency barracks here from WWII until 1954, our First and Second Infantry Divisions active since 1917 memorialized here, Prime Meridien of our nation mandated by Thomas Jefferson to run from the President’s House front door to through the middle of the Ellipse, etc), that I believe the sacred integrity of our own culture and history must be preserved and given the true respect it so deserves–especially at a time when we are watching our Constitutional rights eroded. Sacred are the lives of each and every patriot who formed and maintained our Constitutional Republic. It is a dishonor on whomever permits a celebration of an idealogy differing from our founding fathers’–especially within our national historic sites. Exposure to and respecting another culture is usually beneficial to all. However, celebrating 60 years of the living entity of PRC communism (since hoisting a national flag represents a living entity), in my opinion, is not appropriate within such a United States’ significant historical (and yes, public) site. We do want alliances around the world–but we do not want our own historical heritage mocked within our own historical sites, particularly sites containing memorials to our patriots. And in this case, patriots who died to stop the spread of communism. When Hu Jintao reciprocates permitting Americans who fled to China–now Chinese subjects–to celebrate and share our treasured culture of 200 years a Constitutional Republic, by hoisting the flag of the United States in front of The Monument to the People’s Hero’s in Beijing, or perhaps hoisting our flag on Tianneman Square. Maynard and I will be there–want to join us, Doug?
September 15th, 2009 at 7:45 am
Well, Maynard, if you saw it on Fox News, it must be the truth. Right?