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Alex Lo

Argentine President Javier Milei has every right to reassert his country’s territorial claims over the Falkland Islands. His proposal to use the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration as a template for resolving the Falkland Islands dispute merits serious consideration as a pragmatic framework for bringing this long-standing territorial conflict to a peaceful conclusion.
Argentina’s claim to what its citizens call the Islas Malvinas rests on solid foundations. Upon independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina inherited sovereignty over the islands under territorial succession. Argentina arguably exercised governmental authority over the archipelago between 1820 and 1833, appointing officials and raising its flag.
The islands lie 480km (300 miles) from the Argentine mainland, while sitting 13,000km from Britain – a relic of empire sustained by military might rather than natural association.
International legal scholars Marcelo Kohen and Facundo Rodriguez have together articulated the standard legal arguments for Buenos Aires. Milei is, in fact, repeating them, especially by citing the Joint Declaration.
Their arguments invoke uti possidetis juris – asserting Argentina inherited Spanish sovereignty upon independence and characterising Britain’s 1833 expulsion of Argentine authorities as illegal usurpation. They reject self-determination for current islanders, deeming them a “transplanted” colonial population rather than indigenous people. While Britain emphasises the islanders’ overwhelming 2013 referendum supporting British sovereignty, Argentine jurists frame the dispute as territorial integrity versus colonial occupation – a fundamentally irreconcilable doctrinal clash.
Argentina’s diplomatic protests since 1833 prevent acquiescence to British rule. In January 1833, British naval forces expelled Argentine authorities and settlers by force, an act Argentina immediately protested and had never recognised as legitimate. For almost two centuries, successive Argentine governments have maintained this claim with unwavering consistency. The United Nations had recognised the dispute’s legitimacy in Resolution 2065 in 1965, inviting both parties to negotiate a peaceful settlement. That invitation remains unanswered.

Milei’s invocation of the Hong Kong handover references a tested diplomatic precedent. Under the Joint Declaration signed in 1984, the UK transferred sovereignty while preserving Hong Kong’s prevailing social systems for 50 years. The arrangement acknowledged historical claims while respecting established ways of life – precisely the compromise needed for the Falklands. The roughly 3,600 islanders could retain their governance structures, British cultural identity, and economic arrangements under Argentine sovereignty, mirroring the “one country, two systems” framework.
Britain’s counter-argument centres on self-determination, citing the March 2013 referendum in which 99.8 per cent of islanders voted to remain a British Overseas Territory. Yet this principle cannot operate in isolation from competing legal frameworks.
If demographic preference alone determined sovereignty, every colonial power could simply plant settlers and claim perpetual legitimacy – a formula incompatible with the UN’s decolonisation mandate that placed the Falklands on its list of non-self-governing territories in 1946.
Moreover, self-determination was selectively applied in Hong Kong, where residents were granted no referendum on their return to Chinese sovereignty. The precedent exists because the international community recognised that historical claims can outweigh preferences of transplanted populations. This does not diminish the islanders’ views – any settlement must protect their interests – but such sovereignty questions involve balancing multiple, often conflicting legitimate principles.
Britain handed back Hong Kong to China not from weakness but from a recognition that historical realities evolve

The shifting geopolitical landscape strengthens the case for negotiation. US President Donald Trump’s statement that Washington is “reviewing” its historically neutral stance; American support can no longer be taken for granted.
The late Ronald Reagan was Margaret Thatcher’s soulmate, but Trump is Milei’s best pal. Britain today faces demographic decline and diminished global influence, making the islands’ defence 13,000km from home increasingly difficult to justify, let alone carry out.
Milei has explicitly rejected military solutions, stating Argentines “do not believe in war” and seek a “consensus solution” – a marked departure from General Galtieri’s reckless adventurism in 1982. Britain should reciprocate this good faith rather than hiding behind the referendum result.

The path forward requires compromise from both sides. Argentina must guarantee the islanders’ way of life, property rights and governance autonomy. Britain must acknowledge that historical wrongs and geographical absurdities cannot be perpetuated simply because they have endured nearly two centuries.
The Joint Declaration offers a proven mechanism: a negotiated timeline, explicit guarantees of autonomy, and recognition that sovereignty can transfer while preserving identity.
Here, Chinese diplomats can offer assistance to the Argentines. The alternative is indefinite confrontation – militarily impossible for Argentina, politically untenable for Britain, and wholly unnecessary for a dispute that diplomacy could resolve. Britain handed back Hong Kong to China not from weakness but from a recognition that historical realities evolve. The same recognition should now guide London’s approach to an archipelago that geography, history and justice place within Argentina’s natural sovereignty.
Milei has extended a rational olive branch. Britain should grasp it.


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Diplomacy

Britain should accept a Hong Kong-style handover of the Falklands

A view of Stanley, Falkland Islands, on October 9, 2019. Argentine President Javier Milei has explicitly rejected military solutions to the country’s territorial dispute with the UK. Photo: AFP

Argentina’s President Javier Milei addressing the nation from the Casa Rosada presidential palace in Buenos Aires on September 3, in this screengrab of the broadcast. Photo: Handout / Argentina’s Presidency Press Office / AFP

The remains of an Argentine Chinook helicopter shot down during the 1982 Falklands War are seen at Mount Kent, Falkland Islands, on October 8, 2019. Photo: AFP

Argentina threatens to sanction oil projects around Falkland Islands

Argentina’s President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires. Photo: Reuters

Stanley, capital of the Falkland Islands. The Falklands war ended in 1982. Photo: AFP

Milei escalates Argentina’s Falklands dispute with UK as Trump hints at US policy shift

Stanley, Falkland Islands. Argentina’s Javier Milei is reviving his country’s bitter clash with the UK over the islands, targeting a new oil project. Photo: AFP

Argentina’s President Javier Milei addressing his nation. Photo: Argentina’s Presidency via AFP

Captured Argentinian soldiers guarded by a British Royal Marine in 1982. Photo: AP

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Argentina has history, geography and justice on its side. The 1984 Joint Declaration offers a clear precedent for a peaceful, negotiated transfer of sovereignty


Argentina has history, geography and justice on its side. The 1984 Joint Declaration offers a clear precedent for a peaceful, negotiated transfer of sovereignty.


Falkland Islands

Britain

Argentina

Hong Kong

Expresses the views, ideas and conclusions of the author. (Eg. Enough of Crazy Rich Asians, think of crazy poor Hongkongers.)


Column

As I see it

Britain should accept a Hong Kong-style handover of the Falklands

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Argentina has history, geography and justice on its side. The 1984 Joint Declaration offers a clear precedent for a peaceful, negotiated transfer of sovereignty

Argentina has history, geography and justice on its side. The 1984 Joint Declaration offers a clear precedent for a peaceful, negotiated transfer of sovereignty