Outrage Forces Mayor to Kill Plan to Fly Chinese Flag at City Hall

The Mayor of San Leandro has halted a council-approved plan to fly a Communist Chinese flag over city hall on October 1st after the proposal sparked widespread public outrage.

Earlier this week, the city council of San Leandro, Calif. voted 4-3 to approve flying the Chinese flag over city hall in order to honor “the formation of the sovereign state in 1949 by communist leader Mao Zedong,” the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The move was also a gimmick aimed at sending a message that, “the city is open for Chinese business and investment.”

The council decision was swiftly met with dozens of irate phone calls and emails, prompting Mayor Stephen Cassidy to announce that he would exercise a special ordinance to overrule the vote.

Tibetan activists drew attention to China’s human rights abuses, with Tashi Kungo of the Tibetan Association of Northern California asserting that the flag is “stained with the blood of Tibetans, Uyghurs and Chinese.”

Economist Greg Autry charged that the city had been “corrupted by the lure of Chinese money,” adding that San Leandro was seeking to partner with “a regime that has killed more people than any other on Earth.” Autry also drew attention to the Chinese government’s persecution of the Falun Gong sect, members of which are routinely imprisoned, tortured and executed before having their organs harvested and sold for profit.

However, the flag could eventually make an appearance if those same councilors approve a plan to be discussed on October 7th that would adjudicate whether or not the flags of other countries are permitted to fly over city hall. The Chinese flag has already been flown over city hall in other Bay Area cities, including San Francisco and Alameda.

The city council member behind the effort to fly the Chinese flag, Benny Lee, refused to comment after the Mayor overturned the decision.

As Mac Slavo highlights, although the town councilors were eager to fly the Communist Chinese flag in celebration of the formation of a state which under Mao Zedong killed up to 65 million people, they don’t share the same enthusiasm for Christmas.

“What’s notable is that the very same city government which is so tolerant of mass exterminations and human slavery, would shun a symbol such as the Christmas tree. You see, San Leandro is one of those cities that chooses to light a Holiday Tree instead of a Christmas tree, taking great care to not mention “Christmas” in any form or fashion in their council meetings or publications,” writes Slavo.