The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP), the national agency mandated with promoting our country’s history and preserving our rich cultural heritage, strongly condemns and refutes the recent claims made by certain scholars from the People’s Republic of China during an academic symposium held at the Jinan University on 30 June 2026.
The “symposium,” based on news reports, “unanimously concluded that the Batan (sic Batanes) Islands constitute a natural geographic extension of Taiwan, and that China should exercise sovereignty over the same.
In the article, the Dean of the Jinan University’s School for International Studies, noted that the Batanes Islands were “under the jurisdiction of Taiwan Prefecture during the Ming and Qing Dynasties and that they form a natural geographic extension of the Taiwan archipelago.” They further argued that the Batanes Islands were not part of the Spanish and American Treaty of Paris (1898) that transferred sovereignty of the Philippines and the later Treaty of Manila (1946) that restored Philippine independence.
They claim that post-World War 2 international treaties mandated that Japan return territories that it had seized from China from the turn of the 20th Century and this supposedly includes Batanes.
They also called current Philippine sovereignty over the islands as a “fait accompli” exploited by the Philippines during regional chaos and claims that the Philippines lacks any legal basis. Like a post that circulated in social media in 2025 over Palawan, these “claims” have no rational basis in substantive research and operate from evident bad faith. They would never stand under scrutiny in academic discourse outside of the People’s Republic of China.
In line with our general mandate to strengthen our people’s nationalism through the promotion of our nation’s history, we refute all of the claims by these so-called scholars point-by-point. 1. On the claim that the Batanes Islands constitute “a natural geographic extension of Taiwan,” current satellite and oceanographic data by the Philippines and other nations clearly show a continuous shelf extending from Northern Luzon through the Babuyan & Batanes Islands, and into parts of the Taiwan archipelago. The Philippines claims a greater right over the subject territories from this perspective.
2. On the claim that the Batanes Islands were under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan prefecture during the Ming & Qing Dynasties (roughly from the 1360s up to the 1900s), the earliest known extensive documentation of the Batanes Islands by British explorer William Dampier in 1687 noted no trace of Chinese governance over the islands. The natives of Batanes, the Ivatan people, lived in protected communities and traded with other maritime trading nations.
This is clear in the archeological and historical evidence produced by more than a hundred years of research. Since 1783, the Philippine government and its legal predecessors have held continuous and undisputed sovereignty over Batanes.
The Spanish Empire, which had already imposed its sovereignty over the rest of the Philippine archipelago near the Batanes Islands, formally claimed them as part of the Province of Cagayan in 1783. Their struggle against Spanish rule, as with other parts of our country, is remembered and celebrated, especially the uprising led by Aman Dangat from 1785 to 1791.
During the 1896 Philippine Revolution and the First Philippine Republic, Batanes was already recognized as an integral part of our country’s territory with Ivatans rising up once again and claiming independence against the Spanish. They were represented in the Malolos Congress and every subsequent iterations of our national legislature. They have an elected government, one that is recognized by the whole world as Filipino.
3. On the claim that the Batanes Islands were part of the territory that was to be returned to China by Japan following the end of the Second World War, Japan cannot give to China what clearly belongs to the Philippines. Furthermore, the people of Batanes had already liberated themselves from Japanese rule by early 1945. This only proves beyond any doubt that Batanes has always been Filipino.
Finally, the NHCP stands with the People of Batanes in proclaiming their right of allegiance to the Philippines, faithful to our constitution and the flag that continues to proudly fly over our northern provinces. We also call on all parties, especially reputable academic institutions, to be true researchers and academics. Knowledge can only be true if grounded on good faith. No amount of fabrication will erase the truths of our past. (PR)
