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Montevideo, September 21st 2024 - 09:32 UTC

 

 

China increasingly aggressive on the Falklands: “UK stubbornly clings to its colonial sin”

Monday, October 10th 2022 - 10:50 UTC
Full article 9 comments
OAS has been steadfast in upholding Argentina's “inalienable territorial rights” over the Malvinas Islands and in asserting that the British presence is a remnant of colonialism. OAS has been steadfast in upholding Argentina's “inalienable territorial rights” over the Malvinas Islands and in asserting that the British presence is a remnant of colonialism.

The following is the lead editorial of China Daily's 6 October edition, a newspaper belonging to the Chinese Communist Party editorial and refers to the recent Organization of American States declaration in support of Argentina's claims of Falkland Islands sovereignty.

The 52nd General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS), which concluded in Lima, Peru, on Friday, approved a declaration defending Argentina's “legitimate rights” over the Malvinas Islands and supporting a “peaceful and negotiated” solution to the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom over sovereignty of the islands.

The UK had called on the OAS to “recognize the right to self-determination” of the Islanders who had decided in a 2013 vote to remain citizens of a British Overseas Territories and members of the British Family. And UK representative Michael Tatham claimed in the OAS meeting that the UK wants to work “constructively” with Argentina, but Argentina “must accept that there can be no dialogue on sovereignty unless the people of the Falkland Islands decide they want to”.

But as OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro said, the resolution reaffirms “what the organization has historically expressed”. The OAS has been steadfast in upholding Argentina's “inalienable territorial rights” over the Malvinas Islands and in asserting that the British presence on the islands is a remnant of colonialism.

Argentina's Foreign Minister Pablo Tettamanti stressed in his response to Tatham's insistence that the islanders should have their say that “those who inhabit the Islands are an implanted population, mainly British, occupying territory of a sovereign state which Argentina has been claiming since Spanish colonial times”. He denounced the UK representative for simply repeating “the known positions and policies only accepted by the United Kingdom, against the call of the international community”.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization has issued resolutions on the issue more than 30 times urging the UK to engage in negotiations with Argentina to settle the dispute. However, the UK has declined all Argentina's invitations to negotiate. The majority of the international community supports Argentina's claim to sovereignty over the islands — which was given further weight by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf concluding in 2016 that the islands are located within the territorial sea of Argentina — and they have urged the UK to respect the relevant UN resolutions and correct its colonial wrong.

By making its own policy unalterable over such a long time, the UK is intent on dragging out the dispute in the hope that as long as the status quo is maintained, its actual occupation of the islands can become a fait accompli. However, rather than being diluted, forgotten or legitimized, its colonial sins will only become a longer and more shameful entry in the annals of the world with each year that passes.

Top Comments

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  • Terence Hill

    “Approved a declaration defending Argentina's “legitimate rights”

    Since they have none, under international law, that’s a no brainer.

    The General Assembly would reaffirm the inalienable right of the peoples of Non-Self-Governing Territories to self-determination, including -- if they so wished -- independence, by the terms of one of seven draft resolutions and two decisions on decolonization questions approved this afternoon by the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization).

    Following the conclusion this afternoon of its general debate, the Committee, acting without a vote, approved that two-part consolidated text on small island Territories, by which the Assembly would reaffirm that it is ultimately for the people of the remaining 16 Territories on the Committee's list to determine freely their future political status.”
    https://press.un.org/en/2002/gaspd238.doc.htm

    Oct 10th, 2022 - 11:50 am 0
  • RedBaron

    @Terence Hill - firmly agree. What 'inalienable' rights? Justify that point, please, Mr Almagro.
    The only reason the Chinese are sticking their oar into this (they have no connection with the OAS) is that they are trying to exercise their colonial cl;ain on Taiwan, as well as wanting to sink their trading claws into Argentina and S. America in the same way as they have done in Africa and Sri Lanka.

    ''......the UK is intent on dragging out the dispute in the hope that as long as the status quo is maintained, its actual occupation of the islands can become a fait accompli'' ?????
    There is no dispute to drag out and, as the Islands have been in British control since 1833 and beyond, it would seem that the actual occupation is already a fait accompli.
    How much more 'accompli' can a 'fait' be after 189 years????

    Oct 10th, 2022 - 12:46 pm 0
  • Judge Jose

    Who really cares what the communist dictator of China thinks about the Falklands Islands,
    it is totally irrelevant.

    Oct 10th, 2022 - 12:48 pm 0
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