Tea party protests Chinese flag in Washington

The Washington state capitol had been flying a Chinese flag in honour of trade meetings

Payton Guion
Tuesday 07 April 2015 20:37 BST
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Over the weekend a group of activists from the tea party – the group that represents the far-right of American politics – protested for the removal of a Chinese flag from the Washington state capitol.

The Chinese flag was flying alongside the American flag in honour of Washington Governor Jay Inslee holding trade meetings with Cui Tiankai, the Chinese ambassador to the US. But some members of the tea party apparently took exception to the flags flying side-by-side.

“Now that's an Oath Keeper there, making sure the Communist flag comes down. That's an officer that I can support,” said one person protesting the Chinese flag. “Oath Keeper” is a term for authorities who have vowed to violate orders to uphold the constitution. There was no indication that this officer is an “Oath Keeper”.

The flag was taken down during the demonstration, but a spokesperson for the governor said flying the Chinese flag simply was business as usual.

”The governor will often meet with dignitaries when they come to town. It's a matter of protocol to fly their home country's flag during their visit,“ said Jamie Smith. ”Our state's Department of Enterprise Services was going to lower the flag shortly after that anyway.“

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