Philippines shoots down claims that Batanes is China's
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs said Philippine sovereignty over Batanes is "settled and not up for debate," rejecting claims by Chinese scholars that the country's northernmost island province belongs to China by way of Taiwan.
The claim surfaced days before the Philippines marks the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral award on the South China Sea and after Manila and Tokyo announced maritime boundary talks in waters east of Taiwan.
"Flights of fancy should not be dignified with a response. Nevertheless, the Philippines' sovereignty over Batanes is settled and not up for debate," Foreign Affairs spokesperson Analyn Ratonel said in a text message to reporters, according to the Philippine News Agency.
"The Philippines will not entertain revisionist claims over its territory and calls on so-called scholars to focus their energies on genuine, good-faith studies of the region," she added.
Ratonel also noted that a Philippine-approved consular district of the Chinese Consulate General in Laoag includes Batanes, according to PNA.
On July 2, Guangdong-based news site Newsgd, also known as South, reported that scholars from Chinese universities and research institutions "unanimously concluded" during a June 30 symposium at Jinan University that the Batan Islands are a natural geographical extension of Taiwan, with sovereignty belonging to China.
The same report said the symposium was convened in response to the Japan-Philippines summit, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi announced the launch of negotiations to delimit the countries' exclusive economic zones and continental shelves in waters east of Taiwan.
Beijing has so far not formally endorsed the scholars' position.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. separately dismissed the claim as "baseless" and "ludicrous," saying it was "concerning" and "something that must be challenged."
Batanes sits south of Taiwan along the Luzon Strait, near the Bashi Channel, a strategic passage between the South China Sea and the western Pacific.
That geography has made the province increasingly relevant to security planning as the Philippines makes tighter links with allies and partners, including the United States and Japan.
ALSO READ: Philippines rejects Chinese scholars’ claim over Batanes, island province near Taiwan
Stanford group flags 'lawfare' angle
SeaLight, a Stanford-based maritime transparency initiative that tracks China's gray-zone activities, flagged the Chinese scholars' claim on X and described it as part of a possible "lawfare" tactic tied to China's recent patrols east of Taiwan and through the Bashi Channel.
SeaLight Executive Director Ray Powell had earlier written that Chinese coast guard and other government vessels used "law enforcement" language during operations east of Taiwan, after China criticized the Japan-Philippines maritime delimitation talks.
In its June 14 analysis, SeaLight said Beijing had cast the talks between Manila and Tokyo as an infringement, then used that framing as a pretext for maritime operations in waters east of Taiwan.
The latest claim over Batanes also emerged around the National West Philippine Sea Summit, held from July 8 to 9 to commemorate the 10th year of the 2016 arbitral award. The award, issued on July 12, 2016, invalidated China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea that exceeded maritime entitlements under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
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