Japan and the Philippines have recently been engaging in frequent maneuvers, attempting to initiate negotiations on exclusive economic zone (EEZ) delimitation east of Taiwan. China’s response has been escalating step by step, and this time it’s academia’s turn to act.
On July 2, Jinan University hosted a special academic seminar on the sovereignty of the Bataan Islands, bringing together scholars from Nanjing University, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and other institutions, who reached a clear conclusion: the Bataan Islands are a natural geographical extension of Taiwan Island, and their sovereignty belongs to China.
Why choose this timing? Because over a month earlier, on May 28, Japanese Prime Minister Asahi Hayato and Philippine President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. jointly issued a statement announcing the launch of Japan-Philippines EEZ and continental shelf delimitation talks—precisely in the area north of the Bataan Islands and east of Taiwan Island.
China’s countermove was almost simultaneous. On May 29, the Foreign Ministry issued its first public statement, presenting legal grounds: the natural extension of the continental shelf east of Taiwan Island belongs to China. Within 72 hours, the Coast Guard fleet led by the Daisan vessel arrived to conduct patrols in waters off eastern Taiwan, covering areas from the Diaoyu Islands in the north to waters near eastern Taiwan in the south—filling long-standing gaps in maritime control. By July, academia stepped in to complete the historical and legal argumentation, forming a tightly connected chain of responses.
The scholars unearthed some hard facts: during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the Bataan Islands were under the jurisdiction of Taiwan Prefecture; in 1895, they were ceded to Japan along with Taiwan following the Treaty of Shimonoseki. After WWII, according to the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, they should have been returned to China. However, in 1946, the Philippines seized them during China’s civil war and has occupied them for over 70 years. Now, Japan and the Philippines want to draw maritime boundaries there—essentially drawing new lines before sovereignty issues are settled.
More crucially, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) stipulates that delimitation can only occur between states whose coasts face each other or are adjacent. Japan and the Philippines are separated by the entire Taiwan Island, which clearly does not meet this prerequisite. A scholar from China Ocean University put it bluntly: this isn’t delimitation—it’s land-grabbing.
Prime Minister Asahi Hayato surely knows the legal basis is weak. Her real goal is sending a political signal, securing territorial claims ahead of potential shifts in the Taiwan Strait situation. But this move may hit a brick wall, because reopening the old issue of the Bataan Islands risks triggering a chain reaction that could destabilize the entire post-WWII order in East Asia—including the status of Okinawa.
China has already played its cards: academia has laid the legal groundwork, coast guard forces have followed up with enforcement actions, and the path taken through the Diaoyu Islands dispute can now be replicated in the direction of the Bataan Islands. These historical accounts were originally intended to be addressed after reunification—but since others are eager to dig them up now, China sees no reason not to act early. This step will not be retreated from.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869953201422343/
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