Juliana Lu v. Central Bank of Rep. of China

MEMORANDUM

Juliana Lu appeals the district court’s dismissal of her complaint for lack of jurisdiction pursuant to the Federal Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1602 , et seq., its denial of her motion to continue the hearing on Defendants’ motion to dismiss, and its denial of her request for leave to amend her pleadings.

1. Lu’s allegations do not establish that Defendants’ actions outside the United States had a direct effect in the United States for purposes of the commercial activity exception to FSIA, 28 U.S.C. § 1605 (a)(2). See Republic of Argentina v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U.S. 607, 618-19 , 112 S.Ct. 2160 , 119 L.Ed.2d 894 (1992). Lu sought to redeem two bonds in Taiwan, not in the United States. The bonds did not require performance—i.e., payment of the bonds—in the United States. See Adler v. Republic of Nigeria, 107 F.3d 720 , 727 (9th Cir.1997); Meadows v. Dominican Republic, 817 F.2d 517, 523 (9th Cir.1987); cf. United World Trade v. Mangyshlakneft Oil Prod. Ass’n, 33 F.3d 1232, 1238-39 (10th Cir.1994). Moreover, Lu’s allegation that the bonds she sought to redeem were so valuable as to require Defendants to access gold in the United States to redeem…