This content was first published by Radio Free Asia, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Filipinos have been using social media to refute website Chinese claims that Palawan territory, where Beijing and Manila are at odds over a disputed coast, was once a part of China.
Between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea, the largest coastal state in the country is located.
Although the main island of Palawan is outside the so-called “neu-dash line” on its maps, some reefs and shoals are located inside it. Beijing maps a large area of the area with traditional rights to the area.
An old ship was intentionally ran ashore by the Spanish navy on one of the reefs in 1999 to function as an outpost.
According to several recent posts on Chinese social media sites, including Weibo, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu, Palawan was really Zheng He island, which was named for a well-known ancient Chinese adventurer and was a part of China in the past.
For instance, a user who posted on Zhihu, a software related to Quora, stated that Palawan “had close relationships with mainland China since ancient times” and became a source place on the Maritime Silk Road, the ancient sea road connecting East Asia and Southeast Asia with the rest of the world.
Chinese internet clients even claimed that General Zheng He, who led excursions across Asia and Africa during the early Ming dynasty in the 15th century, frequently visited the island and gave it his name in honor of him.
On the Douyin software, articles read,” All contested areas may be taken back.”
Palawan has not been formally claimed by the Chinese authorities. Although social media in China is carefully monitored and controlled, the Taiwanese systems are no official government stations.
The government of China and the government of Philippines have not made any comments on the content.
‘ Internet pun ‘
A lawmaker from Palawan made fun of Taiwanese online responses.
A local counsellor, M. P. Albayda, called the situation a “large-scale hallucination” and an affront to logic. We strongly condemn it for the local authorities, as they say.
After the ship was grounded on the Next Thomas Shoal, another angry people took to the X social media platform to express their outrage.
Palawan has been, is, and will always be a part of the Philippines, the banner said.
It is uncontested, he said. It is not up for discussion.
Additionally, Asian historians refuted claims that Ming dynasty mariners established bases on Palawan, which is located 3,200 km (2, 000 km ) away from mainland China. Zheng He, a former chief justice of the South China Sea, was never even in the Philippines, according to former chief justice Antonio Carpio, a lawyer from the region.
Academics claim that there is no conclusive factual proof that Zheng He’s port explored island along the eastern border of the South China Sea, like the Philippines.
According to Ian Chong, a political scientist at the University of Singapore,” some of this kind of debatable details may have recognized understanding to really rile the other side” while the group state may assert plausible deniability.
It’s similar to says that Siberia may become returned to China or that Okinawa is Chinese.
According to Chong,” some of it is furthermore motivated by a severe sense of nationalism,” which has been a result of Xi Jinping’s policies since taking office.
According to safety experts, according to The Palawan Daily News, China has previously used related tactics: first to flood social media with false narratives to produce misunderstandings, then to promote patriotic sentiment to support expansion and employ diplomatic and coastal pressure to examine the international response.
