Chinese scholars’ Batanes claim has no basis, ‘a joke’ – Teodoro

Defense Sec. Gilberto Teodoro Jr. —Photo by Gabryelle Dumalag

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. on Thursday said a claim made by Chinese scholars—that the Philippines’ northernmost province of Batanes is an extension of Taiwan and therefore belongs to China—reinforced Manila’s long-held assessment that Beijing intended to expand its influence over more maritime areas.

“It also validates what we’ve been saying—that they have a plan to control the whole Pacific Ocean,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the National West Philippine Sea Summit in Pasay City.

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Teodoro said the reported assertions made by Chinese academics during a recent symposium in Guangzhou could signal China’s long-term intentions in the northern and eastern waters of the Philippines after claiming sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.

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“We know there is no basis for this. It’s a joke. It’s ludicrous,” he said.

The scholars from Jinan University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Nanjing University and other research institutions took part in the June 30 symposium at Jinan University in Guangzhou, according to a report published on July 2 by newsgd.com.

After Japan-PH summit

The news outlet is part of a media group that is owned and controlled by the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

The symposium followed the recent Japan-Philippines summit, which reaffirmed closer security and maritime cooperation between the two countries. The report said the Chinese scholars “uniformly determined” that a move by Tokyo and Manila to delimit their maritime borders was “a grave violation of international law and infringes upon China’s legitimate sovereignty in the waters.”

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The Chinese academics said that the Philippines had no historical or legal basis for administering Batanes as the islands were a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan, giving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) sovereignty over the province.

Neither the report nor public statements from Chinese authorities indicated that Beijing has formally asserted sovereignty over Batanes.

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In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Manila “will not entertain revisionist claims over its territory” and urged the scholars to “focus their energies on genuine, good-faith studies of the region.”

“Flights of fancy should not be dignified with a response. Nevertheless, the Philippines’ sovereignty over Batanes is settled and not up for debate,” it said.

From a native

Batanes is composed of 10 islands separated from Taiwan by the narrow Bashi Channel, a passageway between the West Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Its population of around 19,000 relies mainly on livestock raising, farming, and fishing.

Beijing considers Taiwan, a self-governing island since 1949, a breakaway province which China has vowed to retake.

Former Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, a Batanes native who had represented the province in Congress, dismissed the reported claim, saying it had “no basis in history or in law.”

“This deliberate effort to confuse legal ownership over the Batanes islands is meant to justify its illegal incursions into our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) and territorial seas through so-called ‘sovereignty’ patrols,” he told the Inquirer.

Abad pointed out the shared ancestry of the Ivatan people of Batanes and the Tao people of Taiwan’s Orchid Island, saying the latter descended from Ivatans who settled the island about 300 years ago.

He noted that Tao boatmen recently retraced a historic voyage to Batanes using a traditional vessel, which Abad said further undermines the scholars’ claim.

The Spanish colonial state annexed Batanes to the Philippines on June 26, 1783. It was designated a subprovince of Cagayan in 1907, and became a province by law two years later.

Since scholars are making the claim in a “closed society,” the Chinese people will believe the claim, and this was “concerning,” Teodoro said. He called on other academics around the world to “douse cold water” on this Chinese “theory.”

This claim would “galvanize the Ivatan” against China, he said. “If there is strengthening of anti-China efforts, they (Chinese) have only themselves to blame.”

In his keynote speech at the National West Philippine Sea Summit to mark the July 12, 2016, arbitral tribunal ruling invalidating China’s expansive claims to the South China Sea, including waters within the Philippines’ EEZ, Teodoro said Manila should be cautious in negotiating with Beijing.

“China’s definition of an agreement is not the same as what we commonly know an agreement as,” he said.

Teodoro, who has been barred by Beijing from entering any Chinese territory, said that a respectful and fair relationship could not be built without addressing existing disputes.

He also underscored the need to maintain a “credible deterrent” not only against China but against any country that may challenge Philippine sovereignty in the future.

‘Laying the groundwork’

Reacting to the Chinese scholars’ claim, international maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal said in a Facebook post on Thursday that their assertion proved Beijing’s “malign and aggressive intent.”

Batongbacal said the claim should not be viewed in isolation, as they appeared to signal China’s opposition to closer Philippines-Japan security ties. He said Batanes’ strategic location near Taiwan makes it significant in any potential cross-strait conflict.

“It is clear that they are laying the groundwork for any future attempt to take Taiwan by force: it will necessarily include taking the Batanes Islands and they will use this as an excuse,” he said.

China’s historical arguments will not withstand scrutiny under modern international law, according to Batongbacal, noting that Beijing had not presented the claim before an international tribunal.

The US-based SeaLight, a maritime transparency project, said the June 30 symposium appeared to be part of a broader “lawfare” strategy, using legal and academic narratives rather than conventional forces to assert China’s maritime claims.

SeaLight said the scholars’ claim could support China’s activities near the Bashi Channel, citing Chinese patrols conducted east of Taiwan last month.

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“So far, PRC government officials have not endorsed the symposium’s conclusions, but that’s not unusual in PRC gray-zone narrative warfare,” SeaLight said. “For now, muddying the waters over Batanes’ legal ownership is sufficient to help justify its ‘sovereignty’ patrols.” —WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH