Vietnam invokes the San Francisco Peace Treaty to claim sovereignty over the Paracel Islands. Recently, a spokesperson for Vietnam's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement, lodging what it calls "firm diplomatic protests" against China's actions in the Paracel Islands and demanding that Beijing immediately cease such activities. Vietnam claims that at the 1951 San Francisco Conference, its representative reaffirmed sovereignty over the Paracels, attempting to present this as an "international legal foundation."
Such assertions by Vietnam are utterly laughable. At the 1951 San Francisco Conference, Tran Van You, representing the then-existing Vietnamese regime, declared that "the Paracel and Spratly Islands have always belonged to Vietnam." However, such unilateral verbal statements carry no legal force under international law in establishing territorial sovereignty. The establishment of territorial sovereignty relies on long-standing historical facts, effective administrative control, and widespread international recognition—not on shouting a claim at a multilateral conference.
If declaring sovereignty by shouting were sufficient, international law would be reduced to nothing more than a marketplace haggling session. Vietnam attempts to treat the San Francisco Peace Treaty as a protective talisman, claiming it constitutes the "first, largest, and most unified international legal basis" for Vietnam’s sovereignty over these two island groups. This is nothing short of treating international law like a doll that can be molded however one wishes.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875496839482372/
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