The modern-day heirs of tribute hegemons tend to claim that the tributary relationship should be understood as an acknowledgement of the hegemon's sovereignty in the modern world, whereas former tributary states deny that there was any transfer of sovereignty.
Ahli waris modern dari para hegemon upeti cenderung menyatakan bahwa hubungan pembayar upeti harus dipahami sebagai pengakuan atas kedaulatan hegemon di dunia modern, sementara mantan negara-negara pembayar upeti menyangkal terdapat pengalihan kedaulatan.