The National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) on Friday, February 28, debunked recent Chinese claims over Palawan Island, which have been circulating on microblogging platform Weibo and other Chinese social media platforms.
According to the NHCP, the post falsely asserts that Palawan was historically under Chinese rule for a thousand years before the Philippines took jurisdiction and named it Palawan.
“The post originated from the Rednote app, a platform similar to TikTok, and further claims that the island should be returned to China. In this disputed narrative, Palawan was referred to as ‘Zheng He Island,’ supposedly named after the renowned Chinese explorer and seafarer who traveled across Asia’s seas and oceans between the 1300s and 1400s,” the NHCP stated.
The NHCP emphasized that “exploration does not equate to sovereign ownership.”
It clarified that there is no historical or archaeological evidence of a permanent Chinese settlement in Palawan, which has been continuously inhabited for approximately 50,000 years.
“The NHCP stands by the Philippine government’s firm stance that no portion of Filipino sovereign territory is for sale or subject to baseless claims. Palawan is, and will always remain, Filipino,” the NHCP concluded.
