Treaty of San Francisco

The Treaty of Peace with Japan was officially signed on September 8, 1951 in San Francisco, resulting in the popularly used moniker, The San Francisco Treaty. It was enacted on April 28, 1952

The treaty served to officially end World War II and resolve Japan's position as an imperial Asian power. The Treaty makes extensive use of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration on Human Rights to annunciate the Allies goals for the treaty and rest Japan's fate in the hands of the international community.

The document officially renounces Japan's rights to Korea, Taiwan (Formosa), The Kurile Islands, Pescadores, Spratly Islands, Antarctica and the debated Sakhalin Island. At no point did the San Francisco Treaty cede territory to any given country and in accordance to the UN Charter which supports self determination for colonized people. The treaty further put the Ryukyus (Okinawa under U.S. trusteeship, which served as an appendage of the United States until a 1971 act of self determination in which the Okinawans voted to become a prefecture of 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.

External link

• Text of the treaty (http://www.taiwandocuments.org/sanfrancisco01.htm)