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With Malaysia and Singapore's independence, and Hong Kong's sovereignty to China, Britain has lost its main economic and trade bases in Asia and even the Pacific. However, in the vast Indian Ocean, there are still a group of islands looking at India, the Middle East, and Africa continent.Named British Indian Ocean Territory.
In May, the UN General Assembly passed 6 votes to 6 votes, and a large ratio passed a non -binding agreement, requiring the United Kingdom to return this island sovereignty, which is also known as Chagos Archiplago to return Mauritius.The Chagos Islands and the Maldives in the neighboring waters are the same as the water, but this well -known British islands not only in charge of the oil channel, but also supported the US military in the Middle East and the Indian Ocean since the 1960s.Strategic deployment.
As China actively attracts Mauritius and regards the African soup of the Indian Ocean African island as the Belt and Road policy, the Chagos Islands is becoming increasingly important because of the Indo -Pacific strategy in the United States, but Mauritius has wanted to take back the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands for many years.It will continue to be ignored and rejected by the United Kingdom and the United States behind.
The incident was nearly supported by Mauritios was supported by most member states of the UN General Assembly in 2017. He joined the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and clarified who is the sovereignty of Chagos Islands.The International Court ruled in February this year. In 1965, the United Kingdom was still as the master of the colonial sect. When the sovereignty of Mauritius, including the Chagos Islands, did not fully give the residents of the Chagos Islands to express the sovereignty intention before, and then did not give up without authorization, then without permissionThe Chagos Islands divided from Mauritius, and it was not allowed to solve independence with Most of the Chagos Islands. Therefore, it was ruled that the British must pay the Chagos Islands sovereignty to Mauritius.
Britain established the British Indian Ocean in 1965, with its scope including the Chagos Islands and three islands that are currently in Seychelles.For many years, Mauritius has accused Britain forced Mauritius to allow only the independent plan for the Chagos Islands for sovereignty. In the end, when the country was separated from British independence in 1968, it did not include the Chagos Islands.When Britain established the British Indian Ocean's territory, he paid 3 million pounds to the Momuritis Autonomous Government at that time to buy the Cordon Islands sovereignty.In order to solve the lawsuit controversy caused by the residents of the residents of the Chagos Islands, the United Kingdom and the post -paid 4 million pounds to the Mauritius government, trying to attract the Mauritis authorities and the residents of the Chagos Islands who were forced to relocate.The original resident of the Chagos Islands returned to the island, but the effect was not good, and it has also become a major obstacle for diplomacy in Britain and Mauritius for many years.
The UN resolution does not have legal binding power, and it is essentially impossible to make Britain's initiative to abandon relevant sovereignty.Losing a moral highland, the situation is more isolated.
The Indian Ocean U.S. military base
Even though the national strength declines, the United Kingdom is still refused to give up this overseas territory far away in the Indian Ocean. The obvious reason is that the British Indian Ocean's territory is actually an important military base in the Indian Ocean.Similar to the International Court of PerManent Court of Arbitration (PCA, different from the International Court), in 2015, it ruled that the British owned the Chagos Islands sovereignty in 2015 and violated the UNITED National Convention (Convention on Law of the Sea, referred to as unclos).According to the information disclosed in the judgment, the United States intends to establish a military base in the islands of the Indian Ocean as early as the early 1960s, and Britain, which has always been closely related to the United States, to meet the requirements of the United States, the two countries began to study the construction of the Chagos Islands.Military facilities, the largest islands in the islands Diego Garcia.
After Britain retained the sovereignty of Chagos Islands in 1965 and established the British Indian Ocean's territory, it immediately signed a 50 -year national defense cooperation agreement with the United States, allowing the United States to lease Diago Garcia to build a military airport for the United States and British forces.The British Ministry of Foreign Affairs renewed 20 years to 2036 before the expiration of the original agreement in 2016.This has also become the main saying that Britain refused to pay back to the Chagos Islands on the grounds of Britain and the United States.
The Indian Ocean has always been the core of the global economic and trade channel.According to the World Oil Transit Chokepoints published by the US Energy Information Administration in 2016, more than one -third of the oil supply worldwide in 2016 was transported through the Oil Run of the Holmus and the Malacca Strait.The Chagos Islands are just in the middle point of the two straits. Therefore, as long as the U.S. military has been stationed in this archipelago, the United States can fully dominate Eurasian Petroleum Transport Channel and consolidate the United States' global political and economy.
China issued the Belt and Road Initiative in 2014, and Mauritius's positioning in Beijing was a springboard for China to enter the African continent in Beijing. Therefore, in recent years, China has continued to fight against India and actively discuss economic and trade cooperation with Mauritius.A memorandum of understanding of the free trade agreement.In addition, China also leased the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka to support the Maldives' pro -government governance (defeated in the presidential election in April this year).Facing the continuous move of China in the Indian Ocean, the United States finally proposed the concept of the Indo -Pacific strategic concept. The U.S. Pacific Command also changed its name to the USINDOPACOM (USINDOPACOM) to strengthen the national defense security cooperation with Japan, Australia and India.Strengthen the strategic connection and deployment of the U.S. military between the two oceans.
As early as the birth of the U.S. Indo -Pacific strategy, Diago Garcia was an important support base for the United States to attack Afghanistan and Iraq in the 21st century.As the US name prevents China from raising its economic and trade in the Indian Ocean and its military influence, Diago Garcia's strategic value in the United States will further increase in the future.Therefore, it is impossible for the United States to allow the Master of the Chagos Islands to fall into the hands of Mauritius, which has an increasingly close relationship with China.
It is worth noting that in the voting of the United Nations General Assembly this time, the Maldives who are close to the Chagos Islands and just experienced the power of the regime, followed the United States Middle East and Indo -Pacific important allies Israel and Australia to vote for opposition votes (the other three votes are Britain, the United States, and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States and the United States.Hungary).
It is also a NATO ally. France has followed the United States and published a strategic outline of France and National Defense Security, which is called Indo -Pacific;There is still no formal documentation to explain the international road after Brexit.
The United Kingdom will maintain the only remaining maritime status in the world. Outside of the Gibraltar, the French Islands and Cyprus, it is under the banner of the United States and Britain, as the American assistant in the Indian Ocean Britain, supports the Indo -Pacific military and intelligence in the United States.The great strategy continued this wiping of the British Empire's inclined sun.
(The author is a researcher at the Institute of International Issues in Hong Kong)
