Overview
Roger C. S. Lin et. al. v. United States of America is the first lawsuit brought in the post WWII era which challenges the United States’ mishandling of the Taiwan question since the coming into force of the US Senate-ratified San Francisco Peace Treaty (SFPT) on April 28, 1952.
This lawsuit was filed in Washington D.C. on Oct. 24, 2006, and a decision in the US District Court of Columbia was rendered on March 18, 2008. In that decision, the Court recognized that native Taiwanese people have essentially been persons without a state for over sixty years. This was a very important finding, and confirms the consistent US government view that the Republic of China does not exercise sovereignty over Taiwan.
However, the Court felt that the complex issues raised in the suit touched on the “political question doctrine,” and therefore were out of the Court’s jurisdiction.
In late March 2008, Dr. Lin and the other plaintiffs appealled this decision to the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC. They stressed that this lawsuit merely asks the Court to interpret the SFPT, and to determine what rights the plaintiffs/appellants have under US laws and the US Constitution. Such rights should include the “liberty” of the Fifth Amendment, which includes the right to travel, and the right to hold a US passport.
According to the scheduling of the Court, Dr. Lin’s lawyers filed detailed briefs on Nov. 3, and Dec. 17, 2008. The US government’s response brief was filed Dec. 3, 2008.
After this data was collected by the Court, Oral Arguments were held on Feb. 5, 2009, in Washington DC.
The decision of the US Court of Appeals is currently being awaited here in 2009.