US trusteeship of Pacific islands functioned as de facto annexation

Evidence

Even after the Department of the Interior became the governing authority, the arrangement still amounted to what British constitutional law expert Stanley de Smith called “de facto annexation.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 229

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 229
• XREF: connects to: US statehood for Hawaii violated UN decolonization law and made Hawaiians legal wards — Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for…, 851; The U.S. sought to stockpile basing rights before decolonization made islands unavailable — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 169; Post-dictatorship constitutions in the Philippines and Panama ended U.S. base leases — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 945 (+7 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: US statehood for Hawaii violated UN decolonization law and made Hawaiians legal wards — Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for…, 851; The U.S. sought to stockpile basing rights before decolonization made islands unavailable — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 169; Post-dictatorship constitutions in the Philippines and Panama ended U.S. base leases — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 945 (+7 more)