A federal judge has refused to renounce America's jurisdiction in a dispute over the ownership of thousands of documents belonging to two former Republic of China leaders.

The personal diaries and papers in question belong to Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese military and political leader from 1928 to 1975, and his son, Chiang Ching-kou, who served as China's premier from 1972 to 1978. He also served as president from 1978 to 1988 when he died.

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According to Courthouse News Service, the documents, which number over hundreds of thousands, were loaned to Stanford University's Hoover Institution in 2004 by Ching-kou's eldest son, Chiang Hisa-yung, or Eddie.

The college displayed copies of the historic documents for scholars across the world to view. But in 2013, Stanford filed an interpleader action to protect itself against any lawsuits or liability concerning disputed claims over ownership of the documents.

Eight descendants of the family have claimed ownership rights to the documents.

Ching-kou's son, John H., and Taiwan's Academia Historica, filed a motion to dismiss Stanford's lawsuit. They claim that the case should be determined in a Taiwanese court not in the United States' jurisdiction.

Stanford opposed the motion, arguing that Taiwanese law does not have a procedure for interpleader actions and as such it cannot be guaranteed that the college would be protected from liability.

U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman agreed with Stanford, she wrote in her 19-page Sept. 2 ruling that "The undisputed fact that Taiwanese law does not have a mechanism or interpleader actions deprives Stanford of any practical remedy in a Taiwanese court."

However, Freeman also ruled that Chinese and Taiwanese laws on inheritance rights and historical preservation apply to the case and as such should be litigated overseas.

"Unquestionably, the public-interest factors weigh in favor of allowing this ownership dispute over papers of national and historical significance to be litigated in Taiwan," she added.

Freeman concluded that ownership of the documents can be determined after two main issues are addressed; first the rights of descendants under Taiwanese inheritance law and determining what portions of the documents can be considered as "official documents" under Taiwan's Artifacts Act.

Freeman decided to suspend the case for 90 days in order to provide the defendants with enough time to file a lawsuit Taiwan.

The judge also asked all parties involved in the case to inform the court on any updates in writing by Nov. 25.

The court agreed to meet on Dec. 3. for further case management.

TagsChiang Diaries, Chiang Kai-shek, Chiang Ching-kou, Stanford University