Philippines’ defense dep’t hits China’s ‘state-sponsored propaganda’ claiming Batanes - Rappler
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NORTHERNMOST OUTPOST. The Philippine Flag proudly stands in Mavulis Island, Batanes province in this AFP handout from October 2023.
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MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ Department of National Defense (DND) on Friday, September 4, condemned “state-sponsored propaganda” that claims Batanes is part of China.
“Patunay lamang ito sa patuloy na pagpapakalat ng Tsina ng mga baluktot na naratibo sa buong mundo (This is further proof that China continues to push a false narrative),” said the DND, which has administrative oversight of the Philippine military, among the frontliners in Manila’s defense of its maritime rights and entitlements.
On Thursday, September 3, the Chinese Communist Party-linked tabloid Global Times published an opinion piece titled “History shows that Batanes Islands do not belong to the Philippines,” written by Wang Yuanyuan, who is identified as an assistant research fellow at the Hainan-based Center for South China Sea History and Culture.
“Hindi kailanman naging bahagi ng Tsina ang Batanes o anumang lugar sa Pilipinas, at kailanman ay hindi natin hahayaan ang anumang pagtatangka sa soberanya at teritoryo ng Republika ng Pilipinas (Neither Batanes nor any other part of the Philippines has been part of China. We will not allow any attempts to violate the sovereignty and territory of the Philippines),” added the DND.
In a separate statement, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela also criticized the opinion piece.
“Manufacturing a dispute where none exists does not create one. It only tells us what Beijing intends,” said Tarriela, who, alongside Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr., is among the loudest voices in the Philippines not only on Beijing’s encroachments in the West Philippine Sea and other maritime areas, but also against what security and defense experts have pinpointed as China’s malign and disinformation operations on the Philippines.
The opinion piece, which is just under 700 words long, claims that treaties that defined the Philippines following colonization supposedly “excluded” the Batanes Islands, the northernmost part of the Philippine archipelago. Wang also claimed “illegal United States expansion” and supposed “historical and cultural ties to Taiwan” as the basis for his claim that Batanes is part of China.
The narrative that Batanes, a province with just under 19,000, based on the Philippines’ last 2024 census, is part of China is new but also persistent. It was only last June when supposed Chinese scholars who met at an academic symposium at Jinan University “unanimously concluded that the Batan Islands constitute a natural geographic extension of Taiwan.”
China claims independently governed Taiwan, formally known as the Republic of China, even if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled over the island.
Experts had long flagged the Jinan University symposium, and its supposed findings, over fears that the CCP and Chinese government would eventually use those assertions as a basis for claiming Batanes, too.
The islands of Batanes, aside from being the land of the Ivatans, are in a very strategic location. Its proximity to Taiwan means it’s a critical or vulnerable area should Beijing force a “unification” with Taiwan through force. It also lies on the other side of the Bashi Channel, a critical waterway for undersea cables and maritime traffic.
The Philippine military has, in recent years, slowly improved its facilities and presence in Batanes precisely because of its strategic importance.
Both soldiers from the Philippines and its allies have trained in the province, including on Mavulis Island, the northernmost island in the Philippines. – Rappler.com
