‘Not up for debate’: Philippines dismisses China scholars’ ‘claim’ over Batanes

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'The Philippines will not entertain revisionist claims over its territory' says the Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday evening, July 9, dismissed as “flights of fancy” an apparent claim by supposed Chinese scholars who claimed that “Batan Islands” were part of Taiwan, which China, in turn, claims as part of its territory.

“Flights of fancy should not be dignified with a response. Nevertheless, the Philippines’ sovereignty over Batanes is settled and not up for debate,” the DFA said in a terse but strongly worded statement.

“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. The Philippine-approved Consular district of the Chinese Consulate General in Laoag includes the Philippine province of Batanes,” the department added.

According to a report on Newsgd.com, a website run by the Guangdong Provincial Government, a purported “academic symposium on the sovereignty of the Batan Islands” concluded that “Batan Islands constitute a natural geographical extension of Taiwan, with sovereignty belonging to China, and that so-called Japan-Philippines maritime delimitation negotiations in the area hold no legal validity.”

“Batan Islands” refers to Batan Island, the largest in the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes. The island group is called the Batanes Islands.

Batanes is the northernmost point of the Philippines and is closer to independently governed Taiwan than it is to Manila, the Philippines’ capital.

While China itself — neither the Communist Party of China, its central government, nor its Ministry of Foreign Affairs — has not echoed the claim of the purported Chinese scholars, Philippine defense and security officials have warned against the unilateral claim.

Speaking to Rappler on Thursday, military spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea and retired rear admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the move follows a “template” that the Chinese follow: to float “fake” information through informal means, including academics, before the state itself adopts the stance.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., sanctioned by China over his tough stance on the Asian giant, earlier said the move by Chinese academics was “probably a signal of a preconceived intention.”

“It is not far-fetched to think that this is already part of their plan. And it also validates what we have been saying that they have a plan to control the entire Pacific Ocean,” said Teodoro in an interview with the media, describing the claim as “nonsense” and “ludicrous.”

The supposed claim over Batanes comes following Manila and Tokyo’s announcement of delimitation talks, set against the backdrop of the Philippines’ yearlong push against China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea, or part of the South China Sea that includes the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

On Tuesday, July 7, China test-fired a missile into the Pacific from the South China Sea — a move that alarmed countries in the region.

All these movements — at sea and in diplomatic and academic spaces — precede the Philippines’ commemoration of the landmark 2016 Arbitral Award, a landmark ruling that deemed China’s sweeping claim over the South China Sea invalid. The ruling — which means the Philippine EEZ, based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, remains intact — is not recognized by Beijing. – Rappler.com