- Chinese scholars recently claimed Batanes is a natural extension of Taiwan and therefore belongs to China — a position Beijing hasn’t officially endorsed.
- Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro called the claim “baseless” and “ludicrous,” saying it’s concerning and must be challenged.
- Batanes lies about 100 miles south of Taiwan in the strategic Luzon Strait, has hosted PH–US exercises, and figures into wider South China Sea tensions.
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