insular: relating to, or characteristic of, or situated on an island.

The larger insular areas originally came under the sovereignty of the United States in various ways. The following is a brief introduction to Major US Insular Areas, which are also called "unincorporated territories."

    TYPE 1: Insular Areas Acquired by Conquest -- In a treaty signed at the end of the Spanish-American War in 1898, Spain ceded Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines to the United States. In the same treaty, Spain's sovereignty over Cuba was relinquished, but no recipient was designated.

    TYPE 2: Insular Areas Acquired by Purchase -- The United States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark in 1917.

    TYPE 3: Insular Areas Acquired by Agreement -- Great Britain and Germany renounced their claims over Samoa in February 1900. The island group was then formally ceded to the United States by the Samoan chiefs, with ratification by the US Congress in 1929.

    TYPE 4: Insular Areas Acquired after United Nations Trusteeship, as a Commonwealth of the United States -- The United States was responsible for administering the Northern Mariana Islands after World War II as a United Nations trusteeship. In 1976 Congress approved the mutually negotiated "Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States." The commonwealth government adopted its own constitution in 1977, and the constitutional government took office in Jan. 1978. The Covenant was fully implemented on Nov. 3, 1986, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 5564.

As seen from the above, the earliest delineation of US insular areas (TYPE 1) was by the Supreme Court after the Spanish American War, for Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and Cuba. The United States was the "conqueror," hence (in the post-Napoleonic era) the United States is "the occupying power." Obviously, "military occupation" is not equivalent to "annexation."

From this information we can see that beginning in 1898, the three fundamental criteria for the recognition of a type of US insular area are -- conquest by US military forces, the United States as "the (principal) occupying power," and territorial cession in the peace treaty. This is a "default status" for these areas, and does not require any immediate confirmation by the US Congress. Significantly, Taiwan fits these TYPE 1 criteria exactly.

Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines , and Cuba were all under United States Military Government upon the coming into force of the Spanish-American Peace Treaty on April 11, 1899. In fact, for most of these territories, "civil government" authorized or recognized by the United States government was only implemented many years later.

To re-emphasize this: Upon the coming into force of Spanish-American Peace Treaty, the four areas of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines , and Cuba were all under United States Military Government jurisdiction. Significantly, under the specifications of the SFPT, Taiwan is in a very similar situation.

Interestingly, this is an important similarity that many legal researchers miss.