Japan's Supreme Court Tuesday reversed the 1987 Osaka High Court ruling over the ownership of the Kyoto student dormitory, "Guanghualiao."

The Supreme Court said that the plaintiff in the case became the Chinese mainland instead of Taiwan after Japan normalized its diplomatic ties with China in 1972.

As the case needs to be reexamined, the highest court ruled that the 40-year-old suit be sent back to the Kyoto District Court.

Located in Kyoto, Guanghualiao (or Kokaryo in Japan), used to be a students' dormitory, covering an area of 2,130 square meters. In 1967, Taiwan authorities lodged a lawsuit with the Kyoto Local Court, requesting the patriotic overseas Chinese living in the estate to move out.

In September 1977, the case was heard at the Kyoto Local Court, which ruled that, as diplomatic relations were normalized between China and Japan, the ownership of Guanghualiao belonged to the People's Republic of China.

The Taiwan authorities later appealed to the Osaka High Court, which in February 1987 overturned the earlier ruling. The patriotic overseas Chinese then appealed to the Japanese Supreme Court.

The Guanghualiao estate was purchased by the Taiwan "mission" in Japan in May 1950, by public funds from selling off the properties that the Japanese army had plundered in the War of Aggression against China.

From 1974 till today, the Chinese side has for many times made representations to the Japanese side, emphasizing that Guanghualiao has been an estate of China's national property. After the normalization of the bilateral relations, the Chinese side says it should be returned to the People's Republic of China and Japan should assist in changing its registered name accordingly.

(Xinhua News Agency March 28, 2007)