Traditionally, political thinking makes a distinction between de jure and de facto sovereignty, or respectivley juridical sovereignty and empirical sovereignty.

Traditionally, political thinking makes a distinction between de jure and de facto sovereignty, or respectivley juridical sovereignty and empirical sovereignty. By limiting the transfer of de facto sovereignty to a period of 99 years, the treaty ensures that it cannot be interpreted as a transfer of de jure sovereignty. However, in the context of international law the term "sovereignty" without further qualification is nowadays widely used in the sense of de jure sovereignty. This emphasises the thought that under international law a transfer of sovereignty can only be the result of a legal act -- in other words: de jure sovereignty has priority over de facto sovereignty.