Treaty of San Francisco

The between the Allied Powers and Japan, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951 in San Francisco, California. Therefore this treaty is popularly known as the Treaty of San Francisco. It came into force on April 28, 1952.

The treaty served to officially end World War II, to formally end Japan's position as an imperial power and allocate compensation to Allied civilians and former prisoners of war who had suffered Japanese war crimes. The Treaty made extensive use of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to enunciate the Allies' goals.

The fate of Japanese overseas territories

The document officially renounces Japan's treaty rights derived from the Boxer Protocol of 1901 and its rights to Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), (Hong Kong) (United Kingdom colony), the Kuril Islands, the Pescadores, Spratly Islands, Antarctica and the Sakhalin Island. The treaty does not formally state which nations are sovereign over these areas, a issue that some supporters of Taiwan independence use to justify Taiwanese self-determination according to Article 77b of the Charter of the United Nations, which applies trusteeships to "territories which may be detached from enemy states as a result of the Second World War." However, except for the Ryukyus, the areas over which Japan renounced sovereignty were never brought under any formal UN trusteeship arrangement, and hence the specifications of Article 77 were not applied.

Article 3 of the treaty formally put the Ryukyu Islands, which included Okinawa, and the Amami, Miyako, and Yaeyama island groups, under U.S. trusteeship. The Amami Island group was eventually ceded back to Japan on December 25, 1953, and in 1969 U.S.-Japan negotiations authorized the transfer of authority over the Ryukyus to Japan to be implemented in 1972. In 1972, the United States "reversion" of the Ryukyus occurred along with the ceding of control over the nearby (uninhabited) Senkaku Islands without taking a position on the ultimate sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands which are claimed by both the PRC and ROC.

By Article 11 Japan accepted the judgments of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and of other Allied War Crimes Courts both within and outside Japan, and agreed to carry out the sentences imposed thereby upon Japanese nationals imprisoned in Japan.

The document further set guidelines for repatriation of prisoners of war and renounces future military aggression under the guidelines set by the UN Charter. The document nullifies prior treaties and lays down the framework for Japan's current status of retaining a military that is purely defensive in nature.

There is also some ambiguity as to over which islands Japan has renounced sovereignty. This has led to both the Kuril Island conflict and the Diaoyutai/Senkaku dispute.

Neither the Nationalist Republic of China nor the Communist People's Republic of China were invited to the San Francisco Peace Conference and therefore neither signed this treaty. The Republic of China, however, enacted a separate Treaty of Taipei with Japan in 1952, which acknowledged the terms of the San Francisco Treaty.

Some supporters of Taiwan independence argue that the Treaty of San Franscisco justifies Taiwan independence by not explicitly granting Taiwan to either the Republic of China or the People's Republic of China. This legal justification is rejected by both the PRC and ROC governments, both of which base their legal claims on Taiwan on the Instrument of Surrender of Japan which they argue incorporates the Potsdam Declaration and the Cairo Declaration. In addition, in more recent years supporters of Taiwan independence have more often relied on arguments based on self-determination and popular sovereignty and less on purely legal arguments.

The Soviet Union refused to sign the Treaty of San Franscisco. No separate peace treaty has been signed with Japan even after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. This has prevented the Russo-Japanese territorial disputes from being resolved.

Compensation to Allied civilians and POWs

Transfer of Japanese overseas assets

Japanese overseas assets refers to all assets owned by the Japanese government, firms, organisation and private citizens, in colonised or occupied countries. In accordance with Clause 14 of the Treaty, Allied forces confiscated all Japanese overseas assets, except those in China, which were dealt with under Clause 21. China reposessed all Japanese assets in Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, which included mineworks and railway infrastructure. Moreover, Clause 4 of the treaty stated that "the disposition of property of Japan and of its nationals...and their claims...against the authorities presently administering such areas and the residents...shall be the subject of special arrangements between Japan and such authorities." Consequently, it is considered that Korea was also entitled to the rights provided by Clause 21.

Japanese overseas assets in 1945 (1945, ¥15=1US$)
Country/region Value (Yen) Value (US Dollars)
Korea 70,256,000,000 4,683,700,000
Taiwan 42,542,000,000 2,846,100,000
North East China 146,532,000,000 9,768,800,000
North China 55,437,000,000 3,695,800,000
Central South China 36,718,000,000 2,447,900,000
Others 28,014,000,000 1,867,600,000
Total ¥379,499,000,000 $25,300,000,000

Japanese overseas assets in 1945 (1945, ¥15=1US$)
Country/region	Value (Yen)	Value (US Dollars)
Korea	70,256,000,000	4,683,700,000
Taiwan	42,542,000,000	2,846,100,000
North East China	146,532,000,000	9,768,800,000
North China	55,437,000,000	3,695,800,000
Central South China	36,718,000,000	2,447,900,000
Others	28,014,000,000	1,867,600,000
Total	¥379,499,000,000	$25,300,000,000

Compensation to Allied POWs

Clause 16 of the San Francisco Treaty states:

As an expression of its desire to indemnify those members of the armed forces of the Allied Powers who suffered undue hardships while prisoners of war of Japan, Japan will transfer its assets and those of its nationals in countries which were neutral during the war, or which were at war with any of the Allied Powers, or, at its option, the equivalent of such assets, to the International Committee of the Red Cross which shall liquidate such assets and distribute the resultant fund to appropriate national agencies, for the benefit of former prisoners of war and their families on such basis as it may determine to be equitable. The categories of assets described in Article 14(a)2(II)(ii) through (v) of the present Treaty shall be excepted from transfer, as well as assets of Japanese natural persons not residents of Japan on the first coming into force of the Treaty. It is equally understood that the transfer provision of this Article has no application to the 19,770 shares in the Bank for International Settlements presently owned by Japanese financial institutions.

Accordingly, Japan paid £4,500,000 to the Red Cross.

Allied territories occupied by Japan

Clause 14 of the treaty stated that "Japan will promptly enter into negotiations with Allied Powers so desiring, whose present territories were occupied by Japanese forces and damaged by Japan, with a view to assisting to compensate those countries for the cost of repairing the damage done, by making available the services of the Japanese people in production, salvaging and other work for the Allied Powers in question."

Accordingly, the Philippines and South Vietnam received compensation in 1956 and 1959 respectively. Burma (Myammar) and Indonesia were not original signatories, but they later signed bilateral treaty in accordance with Clause 14 of the San Francisco Treaty.

Japanese compensation to countries occupied during 1941-45
Country Amount in Yen ^*] Date of treaty
Burma 72,000,000,000 200,000,000 November 5, 1955
Philippines 198,000,000,000 550,000,000 May 9, 1956
Indonesia 80,388,000,000 223,080,000 January 20, 1958
Vietnam 14,400,000,000 38,000,000 May 13, 1959
Total ¥364,348,800,000 US$1,012,080,000

Japanese compensation to countries occupied during 1941-45
Country	Amount in Yen	^*]	Date of treaty
Burma	72,000,000,000	200,000,000	November 5, 1955
Philippines	198,000,000,000	550,000,000	May 9, 1956
Indonesia	80,388,000,000	223,080,000	January 20, 1958
Vietnam	14,400,000,000	38,000,000	May 13, 1959
Total	¥364,348,800,000	US$1,012,080,000

The last payment was made to the Philippines on July 22, 1976.

References

External links

Cold War treaties | Peace treaties | Aftermath of World War II | Foreign relations of Japan | Postwar Japan

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