Philippines rejects Chinese scholars' Batanes claim
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- Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on July 9 rejected as "baseless" and "ludicrous" a June 30 symposium argument — reported by Chinese state-run outlet GDToday on July 2 — by scholars from institutions including Nanjing University that Batanes was a natural extension of Taiwan and therefore Chinese territory
- Teodoro framed the claim as evidence of "a preconceived intention" and "part of their plan to control the entire Pacific Ocean," though he did not elaborate further on what specific Chinese actions he was referencing
- Beijing has not formally endorsed the scholars' position, and the Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Teodoro's remarks
- Batanes, home to about 20,000 people, sits roughly 160km south of Taiwan along the Luzon Strait — a key passage linking the South China Sea and the Pacific — and has hosted joint military exercises involving Philippine and US forces
- Beijing previously sanctioned Teodoro and his close relatives over what it called "erroneous remarks" about China, underscoring how personally elevated the bilateral friction has become
- The scholars' comments came weeks after the Philippines and Japan announced in May formal talks on delimiting their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves — a move China criticized — layering the Batanes claim onto an already complex maritime picture
Why it matters: The claim extends the Philippines-China dispute beyond contested South China Sea features to a province sitting on the strategically vital Luzon Strait, a chokepoint linking two major ocean basins. Teodoro's framing — linking the scholarly argument to a broader Chinese plan to "control the entire Pacific Ocean" — escalates a fringe academic assertion into a potential diplomatic flashpoint, especially given that Batanes already hosts US-Philippine military drills and Beijing previously sanctioned Teodoro personally.
