It hardly registered as an international incident, but it certainly ranked as a first-rate global gaffe.
When Irvine's leaders traveled to China last month to add to its group of sister cities, they pledged that Irvine would agree to recognize only one China, would break off official relations with another of its sister cities in Taiwan and would never display the Taiwanese flag or play its national anthem.
Um, oops.
The mayor described the papers that a staffer signed as harmless, though "unartfully" written. Just the same, the City Council intends to see if it can untangle things next week.
Those in Irvine's Taiwanese community, meanwhile, said they were stung by what they viewed as an international insult. Several said the city had made a fool of itself and plan to protest before next Tuesday's council meeting.
"I feel real shame on the city of Irvine," said Hong-Zong Lin, past president of the Taiwanese American Aeronautical and Space Assn., who helped establish the city's ties with Taiwan in 1999.
Officials at the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles could not be reached Monday for comment on the incident, first reported in the Orange County Register.
Like many Southern California municipalities, Irvine has developed sister city relations with a number of cities around the world, including Tsukuba, Japan, in 1989, and Hermosillo, Mexico, in 1990.
In 2000, the city adopted Taoyuan, Taiwan, as its third sister city. And last month, officials traveled to sign a five-year sister city deal with the Xuhui district of Shanghai, China.
During ceremonies in Shanghai on May 30, Irvine Mayor Beth Krom and Xuhui's mayor, Sun Chao, signed a one-page document that said the cities' relationship would be based on the historic 1979 agreement in which the United States recognized the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of that country, including the island of Taiwan.
A related memorandum signed at the same ceremony by Valerie Larenne, a city staffer who coordinates the sister city program, went a bit further, promising -- among other things -- that Irvine leaders wouldn't visit Taiwan in any official capacity or display the Taiwanese flag or play its national anthem.
The restrictions were listed in Chinese and translated into English with a spot for Larenne to sign on behalf of the city.
