An organizer of last month’s Chinese-flag-raising ceremony at Vancouver city hall says she’s surprised and frustrated that the event caused so much controversy.
A coalition of Chinese immigrants rallied last week to call for Coun. Kerry Jang to resign after he hoisted the flag on China’s national day while wearing a red scarf — a symbol, the immigrants said, of loyalty to Chinese communism.
That was not the intended message, Shumei Liu, the secretary at the Canadian Alliance of Chinese Associations, told Postmedia Thursday.
“It was a really nice event” that was not meant to make anyone uncomfortable, Liu said.
Association members planned the ceremony — without assistance from any government — as a way to celebrate their former home while here in their new one, she said.
The scarf was a late addition, Liu explained. A few days before the event, organizers decided to dress alike to give the ceremony a celebratory feel. They agreed to wear red — a colour that Liu said has a cheerful, but generic, meaning in China. Men would wear dark suits with red ties and women would don dresses with red scarves.
The group had scarves sewn for those who did not own one already. But they arrived smaller than expected, and once tied, they resembled neckerchiefs. The few scarves that went unclaimed by association members were given to attending politicians, who accepted them readily.
“This is very understandable. When you attend some traditional event, if they give you something very traditional, take it. Why not?” Liu said, noting that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has donned traditional clothing while attending a mosque.
When asked whether she thought Jang should resign over the controversy, she said: “Of course not.”
Liu, who came to Canada in 1999, said attendees sang the Chinese and Canadian anthems before the event. They had planned to raise both flags, but there was just one flagpole.
Staff at the city have since said they are considering a review of their flag raising policy.
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