I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell.
On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
41–50 of 296 posts
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#42Some countries have constitutions that forbid giving up any parts of its territory, but apparently our government can hand over sovereignty without even a vote in parliament
Without going into the sentiment of this, I suppose Chaos Islands are not part of the United Kingdom but rather an overseas territory, so more like "property", to put it bluntly. I guess the government can just give away a building it owns, and this is more analogous than giving away "territory". And there is no current indigenous population there either. But yeah, Jersey is also an overseas territory, can the govern…
The United Kingdom has parliamentary supremacy with little to no checks or balances, so if the parliament wants to give away something, there is nothing that can really stop them.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
It would be naive to believe that the Chinese will not build a competing naval base there, and encroach upon Mauritius's sovereignty over time.
Apart from this being pure speculation, where exactly would they build it? The archipelago has a tiny land area and the only atoll suitable for building a base is kinda already taken... Also, the primary strategic importance of Diego Garcia is to support US operations in the Middle East, where China has never interfered to any significant extent.
Also, wouldn't the US and UK insist on a clause in the treaty that Mauritius can't do this?
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#44I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell. On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
Sea level rise may mean that a 99 year lease is longer than the island will be habitable.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#45I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell. On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
Sea level rise may mean that a 99 year lease is longer than the island will be habitable.
I’ll take that bet.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#46Some countries have constitutions that forbid giving up any parts of its territory, but apparently our government can hand over sovereignty without even a vote in parliament
Without going into the sentiment of this, I suppose Chaos Islands are not part of the United Kingdom but rather an overseas territory, so more like "property", to put it bluntly. I guess the government can just give away a building it owns, and this is more analogous than giving away "territory". And there is no current indigenous population there either. But yeah, Jersey is also an overseas territory, can the govern…
Jersey is a Crown Dependency, not an Overseas Territory. They share a King and the UK is responsible for their defense, but domestically Crown Dependencies are more independent of Parliament than your average British overseas territory.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
Irrelevant.
Maybe to you, but not to the UK government.
The UK has a permanent seat on the UNSC including the ultimate single-member veto and on the sliding scale of fiction to non-fiction, international law is a lot closer to the fictional end. The UK choosing to transfer sovereignty to another country is not in-line with a ruling that says they don’t have sovereignty. They’ve chosen to be done with this controversy.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#48Some countries have constitutions that forbid giving up any parts of its territory, but apparently our government can hand over sovereignty without even a vote in parliament
The UN General Assembly and various UN courts have ruled that the UK had no sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the first place. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55848126
The UN General Assembly is little more than an opinion poll, legally speaking.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm assuming all this is contingent on a treaty vote in Parliament? I'm not familiar with how it works in the UK
Yes, of course Parliament will need to vote on this, but the Prime Minister of the UK has approved it and unlike in the US., in the UK votes are predominantly along party lines so it will pass.
And it can be approved with a bare majority?
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#50Interestingly this includes the military base of Diego Garcia which is strategically important. I imagine the US will pay Mauritius a bucket load of money for continued use.
I imagine ALL of this was hinging on some long term agreement where the US gets to keep Diego Garcia.