Chinese academics claim Batanes belongs to China
A group of Chinese academics has claimed that the Philippines’ Batanes Islands belong to China as they are supposedly a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan, according to a report from Guangdong News,. . .
A group of Chinese academics has claimed that the Philippines’ Batanes Islands belong to China as they are supposedly a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan, according to a report from Guangdong News, an English-language news platform in China. The report said the academics attended an academic symposium at Jinan University on June 30 and “unanimously concluded” that sovereignty over the islands belongs to China through Taiwan. It said the symposium was in response to an announcement from the Philippines and Japan to start formal negotiations to delimit the maritime boundary of their exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, in accordance with international law. The academics contended that the move was a grave violation of international law and infringes upon China’s legitimate sovereignty in the waters. SeaLight Foundation, a U. S. -based nonprofit that monitors and analyzes maritime activities in the South China Sea, said the symposium was “clearly orchestrated” to push a new territorial baseline and justify the patrols China launched to the east of Taiwan last month. The foundation said that while the Chinese government has not officially endorsed the findings of the academics, this was not unusual in its narrative warfare. “For now, muddying the waters over Batanes’ legal ownership is sufficient to help justify its ‘sovereignty’ patrols,” it said in a statement. China claims historic rights over most of the South China Sea, but a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruled that its nine-dash line claims have no legal basis in a case brought by the Philippines.