The Twin Oaks Estate is an 18-acre estate located in the Cleveland Park neighborhood in Washington, DC, United States. The house was built in 1888 by renowned architect Francis Richmond Allen for founder of the National Geographic Society Gardiner Green Hubbard. The name of the estate came from the two oak trees in front of the house, which has 26 rooms in a Georgian Revival style design.
In 1937, Republic of China (ROC) ambassador to the United States Thomas Wang rented the estate as an official residence. Later, ambassadors Hu Shih and Wei Tao-ming continued to rent the property until 1947, when the Hubbard family sold the estate to the ROC government.
In 1949, the ROC government was defeated by the Chinese Communists and relocated to Taiwan, but Washington still recognized the ROC government as the representative of all of China. The Twin Oaks Estate remained the residence of ROC ambassadors to the US until 1979. In that year, the US switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing and cut of ties with Taiwan.
Although Taiwan was able to retain ownership of the Twin Oaks after the severance of ties, only cultural and social events have been allowed at the estate.
On New Year’s Day, 2015, a flag-raising ceremony was held at the estate and Taiwan’s national flag was flown once again after an absence of 36 years. Taiwan’s representative to the US, Shen Lyushun, said it was meaningful to be able to hold a flag-raising ceremony again at Twin Oaks as it symbolizes significant progress in Taiwan-US relations.
Following the flag-raising ceremony, Beijing protested to the US and urged the US to respect the “One China” policy. China sees Taiwan as part of its territory, even though the two sides have been ruled separately for more than 60 years.
The US representative office in Taiwan also said that Washington is "disappointed" in the flag-raising ceremony. It called for Taiwan to ensure the controversial move is not repeated.