MANILA, Philippines – BINASURA ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ang pag-angkin na ginawa ng mga Chinese scholars kaugnay sa di umano’y ang Batanas ay bahagi ng Tsina.
Tinawag ito ng AFP na “baseless.”
“The AFP categorically rejects and dismisses the baseless assertion from a state-sanctioned symposia in China claiming that the northernmost Philippine province of Batanes belongs to Beijing as a ‘geographical extension of Taiwan,” ang sinabi ni AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Navy reservist Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad sa isang panayam.
Gayundin tinawag ni Trinidad ang pinakabagong Chinese disinformation bilang “salami slicing in the information domain.”
Aniya, ito ay isang “systematic manufacturing of false historical and legal narratives intended to desensitize the international community, gradually alter the status quo and establish a pretext for future expansion.”
Binigyang diin nito na ang soberanya ng Pilipinas sa Batanes ay “settled, indisputable at non-negotiable.”
“The province of Batanes is an integral part of our republic, protected by international law and entrenched in our historic national boundaries,” aniya pa rin.
Tinuran pa ni Trinidad na hindi maaari at hindi hahayaan ng AFP ang mga pagtatangka na ito ng foreign malign na hayaan na lamang.
“Leaving these attacks on our cognitive domain unanswered allows revisionist history to take root,” ang sinabi ni Trinidad sabay sabing “the AFP remains fully committed to protecting the country’s cognitive domain, maintaining total Maritime Domain Awareness and defending the territorial integrity of the country.”KRIS JOSE
