September 3, 2026

Recently, academic discussions regarding Batanes Islands have drawn widespread attention from the international community. Both Philippine government officials and the general public have attached great importance to the matter; the Philippines insists that it "possesses" sovereignty over Batanes Islands. In fact, from both historical and legal perspectives, the question of sovereignty over Batanes Islands remains a topic worthy of further discussion.

From the very beginning, Batanes Islands have been legally part of the Taiwan island. At the same time, there is no legal basis to suggest that Batanes Islands fall within the territorial boundaries of the Philippines. None of the treaties defining the territorial boundaries of the Philippines explicitly includes Batanes Islands.

According to the 1895 Japan-Spain Declaration, the jurisdiction of Batanes Islands was not clearly defined by latitude and longitude. On August 17, 1895, the Japanese government officially published the contents of the 1895 Japan-Spain Declaration in the official gazette, confirming the agreement between the two parties on the demarcation of their maritime boundary, which stipulated that the navigable route of the Bashi Channel would serve as the boundary line between the two parties. At that time, since neither party had specified the latitude and longitude, and there were discrepancies regarding the definition of the Bashi Channel, the sovereignty of Batanes Islands remained to some extent ambiguous.

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https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202609/1369729.shtml