Think tank rejects Global Times’ Batanes claim, urges united response

Independent think tank Stratbase Institute condemned the “repeated resurrection” of Chinese claims over Batanes, warning that these seek to manufacture uncertainty about Philippine sovereignty over its northernmost province.

Stratbase Institute President Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit issued the statement after Chinese state media outlet Global Times published a Sept. 3 editorial claiming Batanes was “legally part” of Taiwan and that the Philippines “unilaterally brought Batanes Islands under its jurisdiction.”

“Batanes is Philippine territory, its people are Filipinos, and its sovereignty is settled and not up for debate,” Manhit said.

“An opinion piece cannot rewrite history, international agreements, or more than two centuries of continuous Philippine administration.”

Manhit described the repeated assertion as a “clear attempt to manufacture ambiguity where none exists” and urged the Philippine government to prevent repetition from turning a settled matter of sovereignty into a manufactured dispute.

“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,” Manhit said.

“At the same time, we call on Filipinos, civil society, media, and academe to stand united in defending the facts: Batanes is ours. False narratives must be met with vigilance, credible information, and national resolve,” he added.

The statement described the latest claim as the second time Chinese scholars had revived the assertion as the Philippines marked the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral award invalidating China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea.

The July 12, 2016, award found no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources beyond the maritime entitlements allowed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The tribunal did not decide sovereignty over land territory.

In June, Chinese scholars attending a symposium at Jinan University in Guangzhou claimed Batanes was a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan and therefore fell under China’s sovereignty.

Philippine officials, led by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, strongly rejected those assertions.

Teodoro warned that the claims could be part of Beijing’s salami-slicing strategy to advance its territorial claims in the Pacific through small steps below the threshold of conflict.