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Does Beijing own Batanes? Why Chinese scholars’ claim is a warning shot to Manila

Chinese academics at a Guangzhou symposium asserted that the Batanes Islands, a Philippine province, legally belong to Taiwan and therefore fall under Chinese sovereignty. The claim has prompted Philippine officials to express concern and call for vigilance over academic exchanges with China.

By Tertius News AI Desk 1 outlet · 3 articles Version 1 Coverage Jul 13–29, 2026 Published Aug 15

Lead

Chinese scholars have drawn fierce pushback from Manila by claiming Beijing should have sovereignty over the Batanes Islands, a Philippine province located between Taiwan and the northernmost tip of the island of Luzon. The claim was made during a June 30 symposium at Jinan University in Guangzhou, where academics from various institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, reportedly agreed that Batanes legally belonged to Taiwan and therefore fell under Chinese sovereignty, according to a university news release that has since been deleted. The scholars also asserted China held sovereign rights over the nearby Babuyan Islands.

Coverage Comparison

Reports from the South China Morning Post indicate that the symposium was convened in reaction to a May 28 joint statement by the Philippines and Japan that the two would negotiate to delimit their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, including areas east of Taiwan also claimed by mainland China. Participants at the Guangzhou symposium said the Philippines-Japan agreement infringed on China's sovereignty. The scholars also argued that Manila's control over the archipelago lacked a historical and legal basis, citing territorial treaties and ethnic ties between people in Batanes and Taiwan.

The university's news release described the discussion as one that "served China's key strategic interests," according to the report. However, the intention and objectivity of such scholarly assertions have been called into question, with Philippine officials rejecting the scholars' reading of geography, dynastic administration, cultural links, and post-war treaties.

Beijing has not formally adopted the scholars' position on Batanes, but the discussion has fueled concern in Manila that an apparently academic argument could be used to test or shape a wider narrative around the islands, which sit near one of the most important waterways between the South China Sea and the Pacific.

Key Claims

A university symposium in Guangzhou claimed the Batanes Islands belong to Taiwan and thus fall under Chinese sovereignty. The claim was made by scholars at Jinan University in Guangzhou.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.
The Philippines and Japan are negotiating to delimit their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.
Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr urged heightened vigilance over academic exchange programmes with China.
Jinan University is affiliated with the Communist Party's United Front Work Department (UFWD).

How this outlet told it

South China Morning Post as of Jul 13, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC

Framing: China's sovereignty claim over Batanes Islands — Neutral

Facts Included:

A university symposium in Guangzhou claimed the Batanes Islands belong to Taiwan and thus fall under Chinese sovereignty
The claim was made by scholars at Jinan University in Guangzhou
The Philippines and Japan are negotiating to delimit their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary

Read the source article →

South China Morning Post as of Jul 16, 2026, 12:30 PM UTC

Framing: Chinese scholars' claim sparks pushback from Manila — Critical

Facts Included:

Chinese scholars claimed Beijing should have sovereignty over the Batanes Islands
The scholars argued that the islands legally belonged to Taiwan and thus fell under Chinese sovereignty
The discussion was held against the backdrop of maritime border talks between Japan and the Philippines

Read the source article →

South China Morning Post as of Jul 29, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC

Framing: Philippine Defence Secretary warns of Chinese influence — Alarmist

Facts Included:

Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr urged heightened vigilance over academic exchange programmes with China
Jinan University was the centre of a controversy over the Batanes Islands
The university was affiliated with the Communist Party's United Front Work Department (UFWD)

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimA university symposium in Guangzhou claimed the Batanes Islands belong to Taiwan and thus fall under Chinese sovereignty. The claim was made by scholars at Jinan University in Guangzhou.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 13, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC
ClaimBeijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 13, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC
ClaimThe Philippines and Japan are negotiating to delimit their exclusive economic zones and continental shelves.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 13, 2026, 1:45 PM UTC
ClaimPhilippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr urged heightened vigilance over academic exchange programmes with China.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 29, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC
ClaimJinan University is affiliated with the Communist Party's United Front Work Department (UFWD).	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via South China Morning Post as of Jul 29, 2026, 12:31 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

1 outlet · 3 articles consulted: South China Morning Post 5 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-08-15