An Analysis of the Change of France's Stance on Xisha in the Early 1930s
At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s,China was trapped in a situation of internal and external troubles.France and its colonial institutions plotted to occupy the Xisha Islands and began to weave the"historical bases"for the so-called"ownership"of the Paracel Islands by An-nan(Vietnam).However,the legal experts of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs had doubts a-bout the legal validity of these"bases".At that time,some important figures in French politics called for a strategic understanding of Xisha,which prompted the French government to hasten the change of its stance on Xisha.The Governor of Indochina's analysis and stance on Xisha played an important role in the formation of the French government's final decision.The French Ministry of Foreign Af-fairs,taking into account the views of all parties,finally decided to negotiate with China on the Xisha Islands.However,it was unanimously agreed that if"all legal means have been exhausted",France would still"recognize China's sovereignty"under certain conditions.The main driving force behind the change of France's stance on Xisha was to seek the maximization of geographical interests,which was based on the disregard of China's territorial sovereignty and had a serious negative impact on the situation in the South China Sea.
French archivesthe French Ministry of Foreign AffairsGovernor of Indochinathe Xisha IslandsChina's sovereignty
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