MANILA, Philippines — A group of Chinese academics has asserted that the Philippines' northernmost province of Batanes belongs to China through Taiwan, a narrative that aims to support Beijing's territorial claims in the region.
The claim emerged from a June 30 symposium hosted by Jinan University in Guangzhou, where scholars from institutions including Nanjing University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other research organizations concluded that the Batan Islands are a "natural geographical extension" of Taiwan and therefore fall under China's sovereignty.
A report published by Chinese state-affiliated media outlet NewsGD said participants unanimously declared that the Philippines' administration of Batanes "lacks historical and legal basis" and that planned maritime boundary negotiations between Japan and the Philippines east of Taiwan are "illegal and invalid."
The symposium was held following the May summit between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., where the two countries announced plans to negotiate the delimitation of their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves in waters east of Taiwan.
Chinese scholars argued that Batanes was under the jurisdiction of Taiwan during the Ming and Qing dynasties, citing historical navigation records, cultural ties between the Ivatan people and Taiwan's Tao community, and their interpretation of the 1898 Treaty of Paris and the 1946 Treaty of Manila. They further claimed the islands should have been returned to China after World War II as territories allegedly appurtenant to Taiwan.
The academics also said that under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), Japan and the Philippines cannot negotiate a maritime boundary because Taiwan lies between the two countries.
The symposium called on the international community to recognize what it described as China's historical and legal basis for sovereignty over the Batan Islands and warned against Japan and the Philippines using maritime delimitation for geopolitical purposes.
The claims, however, have not been endorsed by the Chinese government.
Maritime security analyst Ray Powell of SeaLight said the symposium appears to be part of Beijing's broader "lawfare" strategy to establish a new territorial narrative over Batanes.
Powell said the event was likely orchestrated through Chinese academics and state media to provide legal justification for Chinese patrols conducted east of Taiwan last month, even without an official endorsement from Beijing.
"So far PRC government officials have not endorsed the symposium's conclusions, but that's not unusual in PRC gray-zone narrative warfare," Powell said in an analysis posted on social media.
The Philippines has exercised continuous administration over Batanes since the Spanish colonial period. The province forms part of Philippine territory under the country's Constitution and has long been recognized by the international community as part of the Philippines. The Philippine government has yet to issue a response to the symposium's claims.