Taiwan’s representative to the US, Shen Lyu-shun, said that the US had to make a superficial response to New Year's Day ceremony in which a Taiwanese flag was raised at the Twin Oaks Estate in Washington D.C. The Taiwan-owned estate is where Taiwan's ambassadors used to reside before diplomatic ties between the US and Taiwan were cut in 1979.
The US State Department expressed its disappointment at the event in what it said was a violation of expected norms in the unofficial US-Taiwan relationship.
Speaking at the legislature on Wednesday, Shen explained that the US had to have a certain response in order to appease Beijing. "On the surface, there are things that had to be done, some words that the US had to say, " Shun said. "That's because Beijing protested. This protest of course would cause a little trouble for the US, so there are some things that the US had to do on the surface. The US side told me this a long time ago. "
Shen said that the flag has flown at US offices before, and insisted that the flag-raising ceremony would not impact ties with the US. Taiwan raised its flag at its representative office on National Day last year and also flies its flag outside representative office. Shun said this is all in line with current regulations.
"On March 24, 2014- you can check the US Federal Register- the US listed our representative office as a Foreign Mission," said Shun. "We are a Foreign Mission, but we are not an Embassy. If you are a Foreign Mission, you should be able to fly a flag, and not only inside but outside too."
The raising of the ROC flag at its US representative office has caused some controversy. But Taiwan's legislators affirm the act as a bold and patriotic one.