It is common for a victorious army in a war to occupy the territory of the defeated State. Territory, after all, is an important element of the defeated State. The occupation of an enemy's territory after the enemy surrenders pending a settlement, however, does not give the occupying State the title to the territory that it occupies. As stated earlier, it has become a rule of customary international law that if title to a territory of the defeated State is to be changed after a war, then it must be achieved by a territorial treaty. The war between Japan and the Allied Powers did not formally end until April 28, 1952, when the Treaty of Peace with Japan (the "Peace Treaty of San Francisco"), to which China is not a party, entered into force. The war between Japan and China did not end until August 5, 1952, when the Peace Treaty between Japan and China, represented by the R.O.C. government, entered into force. Thus, the occupation of Formosa by the R.O.C. government was, until the conclusion of the Peace Treaty of San Francisco, a military wartime occupation.(103)   In May 1951, six years after assigning the task of the post-surrender administration in Formosa to the R.O.C. government, General MacArthur said, "Formosa is still a part of Japan." (104)
因戰爭而勝利國的軍隊佔領被擊敗國的領土是很常見的。畢竟，領土是被擊敗國家的重要組成部分。但是，在敵人投降後佔領敵人的領土，並不能使佔領國獲得其佔領領土的所有權。如前所述，國際慣例法的既定規則是，如果要在戰後改變對被擊敗國領土的所有權，那麼必須通過領土條約來實現。日本與同盟國之間的戰爭直到1952年04月28日《與日本和約》（又稱《舊金山和平條約》）生效才正式結束，不過當時中國未被邀請為參加國。日本和中國之間的戰爭直到1952年08月05日，以中華民國政府為代表的《中日和平條約》生效才結束。因此，中華民國政府佔領了台灣， 在《舊金山和平條約》生效之前，一直是戰時的軍事佔領。 (103) 將福爾摩沙的投降後行政管理工作分配給中華民國政府的六年後 (即1951年05月)，麥克阿瑟將軍說過："福摩薩仍然是日本的一部分。" (104)

Both Labor and Conservative Parties of the British government also held the view that China did not acquire title to the island of Taiwan by occupation. In 1949, British Foreign Secretary Mayhew, in the Atlee (Labor Party) administration, said in the House that "the Chinese Nationalist authorities . . . . are in control of the island [Formosa. However, any] change in the legal status of Formosa can only be formally effected in a treaty of peace with Japan." (105)
英國政府的工黨和保守黨都一致認為中國沒有通過佔領而獲得台灣島的所有權。 1949年，英國外交大臣Mayhew在工黨Atlee政府中在眾議院表示："中國國民黨 . . . . .控制著台灣島。但是，台灣島的法律地位要發生了任何變化，只有與日本達成和平條約才能正式實現。" (105)