Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
L

Liu v. Republic of China

892 F.2d 1419 (1989)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Liu v. Republic of China

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
892 F.2d 1419 (1989)

Facts

Henry Liu (plaintiff), was a journalist living in California and an outspoken critic of the Republic of China (China) (defendant). Vice-Admiral Wong His-ling (Wong), the director of a Chinese government agency, the Defense Intelligence Bureau (DIB), secretly recruited members of a gang to kill Henry. Wong allowed the gang members to use government facilities, sent them to a DIB training school, and provided information about Henry compiled by DIB. The gang members travelled to the United States and shot and killed Henry at his home. Wong and the gang members were later convicted of murder and conspiracy in China. The Chinese courts found that Wong had a personal grudge against Henry, had acted without the knowledge of any other government officials, and had violated DIB regulations and China law. Helen Liu (plaintiff), Liu’s widow, sued China in United States federal court for wrongful-death damages, claiming that China had conspired with Wong to kill Henry and that Wong had acted within the scope of his employment with the DIB. Helen moved for partial summary judgment. The district court denied the motion and dismissed the case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Helen appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Boochever, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

International Law

Key Terms

Related Videos