Chinese Scholars Claim That the Batanes Aren't Part of Philippines
As Japan and the Philippines prepare to formally settle the small overlap between their respective exclusive economic zones, China's government has sounded a strong note of protest due to the hotly-contested location - just east of Taiwan, which is claimed by China. Now, a group of Chinese scholars are taking aim at territories that could affect the boundary: the Batanes, the Philippine island chain that straddles the Strait of Luzon.
Japan and the Philippines are close allies, and a settled EEZ boundary would resolve ambiguities about territorial sovereignty. But any agreement would divvy up waters that are also claimed by Taiwan and the People's Republic of China (which claims ownership of Taiwan). The delimitation would not impede any third-party EEZ claims, and China and Taiwan can still pursue their own versions of the boundary line - but neither is pleased at being left out. For China, the talks are also a strategic matter: settling the boundary delimitation would bring Japan and the Philippines closer together, strengthening an alliance that resists China's expansive claims in the First Island Chain.
To delimit a boundary under international law, the Japanese and Philippine EEZs must stem from opposite or adjacent shorelines. A group of Chinese scholars has come up with a novel framework to keep the two EEZs apart: they claim that the northern Batanes should be part of Chinese-claimed Taiwan. This would put "Chinese" islands (the Batanes) in between the Japanese and Philippine EEZs. As is the case with China's South China Sea claims, the argument leans heavily on a reading of regional history: it draws on Ming and Qing Dynasty rulership in the area, and cites the colonial boundary line in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which defined the northern Batanes as part of Philippine territory.
"The islands are not merely closer to Taiwan in distance, but constitute a natural geographical extension of Taiwan Island," Ju Hailong, Dean of the School of International Studies at Jinan University, told Chinese outlet Sina.com.
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
Academic claims aside, the Batanes have high strategic value. The Strait of Luzon is a key passageway between China's coastline and the open ocean, critical for shipping and for Chinese naval operations outside of the First Island Chain. The U.S. Marine Corps has practiced deploying to the islands with antiship missile batteries, which could be used to defend the Batanes or to deny access to the Strait of Luzon.
China has previously displayed interest in the islands: last August, a China Coast Guard task force of three cutters patrolled around the islands, unnerving decisionmakers in Manila. In the South China Sea, the CCG's presence operations have often presaged a contest for territorial control.
