Philippines slams 'ludicrous' Chinese claim on Batanes
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- Gilberto Teodoro on July 9 dismissed as "baseless" and "ludicrous" claims by Chinese scholars that Batanes — a province of about 20,000 people located 160km south of Taiwan — belongs to China, calling it "a signal of a preconceived intention" and part of a plan "to control the entire Pacific Ocean."
- GDToday reported July 2 that scholars from institutions including Nanjing University argued at a June 30 symposium that Batanes was a natural extension of Taiwan and therefore Chinese territory — a position Beijing has not formally endorsed.
- Batanes sits along the Luzon Strait, a strategic passage linking the South China Sea and the Pacific, and has hosted joint military exercises involving Philippine and allied US forces.
- Beijing previously sanctioned Teodoro and his close relatives over what it called "erroneous remarks" about China, and the Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
- 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 criticised.
- China claims almost the entire South China Sea despite a 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated those claims, with over US$3 trillion in trade passing through the waterway annually.
Why it matters: This is the latest flashpoint in Manila-Beijing tensions: the scholars' claim dropped weeks after China criticized newly announced Philippines-Japan maritime boundary talks, and Beijing has already personally sanctioned Teodoro over prior remarks. With Batanes hosting joint US-Philippine exercises and sitting astride the Luzon Strait, even an unendorsed Chinese claim raises the strategic stakes of a province Manila considers sovereign.
