Chinese Flag in DC

A flurry of blogs have reported about how the Chinese will be flying their flag at the White House on September 20th.

China Daily reported it so, but according to Fox News, the White House has since said that the ceremony will occur, not at the House itself, but across the street.

Of course, this is not without precedent- flags of foreign nations are flown from the White House occasionally to signify state visits (which this visit, according to the White House, is not); in fact, the last time the Chinese flag was hoisted over the White House was during President Bush's term, to welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao to the country. Flags have been flown from across the street plenty of times, often for ceremonies such as this.

The ceremony in question would involve celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). (Something I've come to realize- the reason people don't want to recognize the US as a Republic is because all the Communist countries claim to be 'republics'. Kind of sad.)

The idea of our celebrating such a thing at all is rather strange; the fact that China is a Communist country, repressive and totalitarian, doesn't seem to faze anyone. Of course, China also owns us, which may be a large part of it. I don't understand why foreign countries have to come to our country to celebrate their stuff, just seems sort of strange.

But since there is precedent for this, I don't suppose there's much more to be said about it.