and are now displayed at the National Museum of the Philippines. From 1930 to 1933, the French colonial government in French Indochina sent naval troops to the Spratlys, including Pag-asa Island. On 21 December 1933, Gouverneur M. J. Krautheimer in Cochinchina (now Vietnam) decided to annex the Spratlys to Bà Rịa Province. Post-World War 2 history Occupation and establishment of civilian administration by the Republic of China After Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, Republic of China officials responsible for reclaiming the South China Sea Islands embarked to recover the island. The Ministry of the Interior re-erected national markers on the major islands, drew up detailed maps of them, renamed them, and published the Location Map of the South China Sea Island. In May 1956, Tomás Cloma, a Philippine national, landed on several of the islands, claiming that he had discovered them and enjoyed the rights associated with discovery-occupation. The ROC ambassador to the Philippines immediately issued a statement stressing that the islands were ROC territory, and sent a letter of protest to Philippine Vice President and Foreign Secretary Carlos Polestico Garcia. The Philippine government stated that these were individual actions by Cloma and had nothing to do with the Philippine government. On October 1, 1956, at Bei Zi Reef in the South China Sea (called North Danger Reef in ), two nationalist Chinese ships (called Taiwanese ships in )- namely, the Ning Yuan (寧遠) flotilla of the Republic of China Navy (ROC), containing ROC naval vessels Taihe and Yongshun - approached Cloma's expedition with the boat PMI-IV "and invited Captain Cloma (and Chief Engineer Benito Danseco, and other crew members) and aboard (the naval vessel Tai He ) for a conference. A 4-hour discussion over ownership ensued, during which Cloma was below deck, unaware that a boarding party had searched his vessel and confiscated all arms/ammunition, maps and documents. Captain Cloma protested but was treated discourteously, interrogated, and kept under detention until allowed to rejoin his boat. The next day he was again invited aboard the Chinese ship. There, even under threat to their lives, Cloma and his officers refused to recognize that Freedomland was Chinese territory and to sign a statement (signed under duress, according to Filemon Cloma's son ) that they would leave Freedomland and never come back. Cloma was forced to surrender arms for which he was given a receipt, whereupon the Chinese