MANILA, Philippines — The repeated assertion by Chinese media and scholars that Batanes belongs to Taiwan is an attempt to create doubt over Philippine sovereignty in the country's northernmost province, the Stratbase Institute said.
Stratbase Institute President Victor Andres Manhit issued the statement after China's state-run Global Times published an editorial on Sept. 3 claiming that Batanes was “legally part” of Taiwan and that the Philippines had “unilaterally brought Batanes Islands under its jurisdiction.”
Manhit rejected the claim.
“Batanes is Philippine territory, its people are Filipinos, and its sovereignty is settled and not up for debate,” he said. “An opinion piece cannot rewrite history, international agreements, or more than two centuries of continuous Philippine administration,” he added.
Manhit said the renewed claims were a “clear attempt to manufacture ambiguity where none exists.” He urged the Philippine government to respond through diplomatic, legal and public information measures.
“We urge the Philippine government to mount a firm, unified, and sustained response—through diplomacy, law, public information, and effective governance—to reject narratives that undermine the country’s territorial integrity,” he said.
He also called on civil society, the media and academe to help counter what he described as false narratives about Batanes.
“Batanes is ours. False narratives must be met with vigilance, credible information, and national resolve,” Manhit said.
The Global Times editorial is the latest in a series of Chinese assertions questioning Philippine sovereignty over Batanes.
In June, Chinese scholars at a symposium at Jinan University in Guangzhou described Batanes as a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan and argued that it therefore fell under China's sovereignty.
Philippine officials, including Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., have rejected such assertions.
