Japan's Supreme Court Tuesday reversed the 1987 Osaka High Court
ruling over the ownership of the Kyoto student dormitory,
"Guanghualiao."
The Supreme Court said that the plaintiff in the case became the
Chinese mainland instead of Taiwan after Japan normalized its
diplomatic ties with China in 1972.
As the case needs to be reexamined, the highest court ruled that
the 40-year-old suit be sent back to the Kyoto District Court.
Located in Kyoto, Guanghualiao (or Kokaryo in Japan), used to be
a students' dormitory, covering an area of 2,130 square meters. In
1967, Taiwan authorities lodged a lawsuit with the Kyoto Local
Court, requesting the patriotic overseas Chinese living in the
estate to move out.
In September 1977, the case was heard at the Kyoto Local Court,
which ruled that, as diplomatic relations were normalized between
China and Japan, the ownership of Guanghualiao belonged to the
People's Republic of China.
The Taiwan authorities later appealed to the Osaka High Court,
which in February 1987 overturned the earlier ruling. The patriotic
overseas Chinese then appealed to the Japanese Supreme Court.
The Guanghualiao estate was purchased by the Taiwan "mission" in
Japan in May 1950, by public funds from selling off the properties
that the Japanese army had plundered in the War of Aggression
against China.
From 1974 till today, the Chinese side has for many times made
representations to the Japanese side, emphasizing that Guanghualiao
has been an estate of China's national property. After the
normalization of the bilateral relations, the Chinese side says it
should be returned to the People's Republic of China and Japan
should assist in changing its registered name accordingly.
(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2007)
