The Philippine government has formally rejected China’s assertion of sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the waters surrounding Batanes, the country’s northernmost province. This diplomatic pushback follows an incident on October 1, 2026, where the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) successfully disrupted the activities of a Chinese research vessel, the Jia Ha Ke 7.
According to the PCG, the Chinese ship had been loitering approximately 37 nautical miles northwest of Batanes for four consecutive days. The Philippine operation involved the deployment of the country's largest coast guard vessel and an aircraft to challenge the presence of the ship. PCG spokesperson Jay Tarriela reported that during the encounter, a China Coast Guard vessel attempted to intervene by repeatedly shielding the research ship and blocking the path of the Philippine coast guard vessel. Despite these maneuvers, the Philippine operation compelled the Chinese vessel to depart from the position it had held off Itbayat, Batanes.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a statement confirming that it firmly rejects the Chinese claims of sovereignty over the Batanes islands, which are situated between Taiwan and the Philippine island of Luzon. The DFA emphasized that the Chinese vessel was operating within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), marine scientific research within an EEZ is only permitted with the express consent of the coastal state.
In response, the Chinese embassy in Manila claimed the vessel was conducting normal operations in accordance with international law within waters under Chinese jurisdiction. Beijing further urged the Philippines to respect its sovereign rights and cease what it termed “provocative interference.”
This confrontation marks a potential expansion of the maritime struggle between the two nations, which has previously centered on features in the South China Sea, such as the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. Tensions over the area were foreshadowed in June 2026, when Chinese scholars at a symposium in Guangzhou described the Batanes Islands as a “natural geographical extension” of Taiwan and therefore Chinese territory. Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro dismissed those remarks as “baseless” and “ludicrous,” warning that such claims were concerning and required a firm challenge. Analysts, including Collin Koh of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, have previously cautioned that such academic rhetoric could potentially transition into official Chinese government discourse.
