The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday underscored that Philippine sovereignty over Batanes is “settled and not up for debate,” rejecting a Chinese scholar’s claim that the island province is a “natural geographical extension of Taiwan.”

“Flights of fancy should not be dignified with a response. Nevertheless, the Philippines’ sovereignty over Batanes is settled and not up for debate. The Philippines will not entertain revisionist claims over its territory and calls on so-called scholars to focus their energies on genuine, good-faith studies of the region,” DFA spokesperson Analyn Ratonel said in a Viber message to reporters forwarded to the Daily Tribune.

Ratonel pointed out that the Philippine-recognized consular district of the Chinese Consulate General in Laoag City includes Batanes, underscoring China’s diplomatic recognition of the province as a part of the Philippines.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Oban Jr. reacted with disgust over the suggestion that the authority over the northern part of the country can be contested.

“We view with serious concern reports that Chinese scholars are advancing the notion that Batanes belongs to China. There is no ambiguity on this matter: Batanes is an integral and indivisible part of the Republic of the Philippines,” Oban said in a statement sent to Daily Tribune.

“The claim that Batanes belongs to China has no merit. But from a national security perspective, we cannot ignore how false narratives can be repeated to manufacture ambiguity where none exists,” he added.

“This is especially relevant as we mark the 10th anniversary of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award. A decade later, its lesson is not simply that the Philippines prevailed in a legal case. We are not after winning arguments. We are protecting our territory, our people, and our future,” Oban said.

According to Oban, there is “no dispute to settle,” “no claim to negotiate,” and “no ambiguity to resolve.”

Earlier, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called China’s latest claim “ludicrous” and “a joke,” noting that such utterances authenticate Manila’s stance that Beijing has broader plans to control the Pacific Ocean.

In a symposium in Guangzhou, China, on 30 June, some Chinese scholars claimed that Batanes was an extension of Taiwan and therefore subject to Chinese sovereignty.

High degree of skepticism

Meanwhile, the head of the University of Santo Tomas Political Science Department, Professor Dennis Coronacion, viewed the Chinese study with considerable skepticism, saying it appeared to be a politically motivated narrative rather than an objective academic finding.

“What we are seeing is a clear attempt by China to exploit the well-documented cultural and historical ties between the indigenous peoples of Batanes and Taiwan for geopolitical leverage,” Coronacion told Daily Tribune.

The UST professor stressed that the Philippines’ deep connections with Taiwan are real and not manufactured.

“We saw this beautifully demonstrated recently when indigenous Tao seafarers from southern Taiwan sailed across our shared waters in their traditional wooden plank boat to honor our shared Austronesian heritage. We cannot allow our genuine cultural history to be weaponized for foreign propaganda,” he said.

Furthermore, Coronacion said, China’s “academic overreach” exposed a fundamental flaw in logic: “The Chinese government must first prove its highly contested historical and political claim over Taiwan before it can even begin to manufacture absurd conclusions about Batanes.”

Salami slicing

Armed Forces of the Philippines special spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, said the AFP categorically rejects the assertion over Batanes.

“We view this latest disinformation as salami-slicing in the information domain. It is the systematic manufacturing of false historical and legal narratives intended to desensitize the international community, gradually alter the status quo, and establish a pretext for future expansion,” Trinidad said.

“It is absolutely clear that the Philippines’ sovereignty over Batanes is settled, indisputable, and non-negotiable. The province of Batanes is an integral part of our republic, protected by international law and entrenched in our historic national boundaries,” he said.

Trinidad stressed that the AFP cannot and “will not let these attempts of foreign malign influence go unchallenged.”

“Leaving these attacks on our cognitive domain unanswered allows revisionist history to take root. The AFP remains fully committed to protecting our cognitive domain, maintaining total maritime domain awareness and defending the territorial integrity of the country,” the AFP-WPS spokesman said.