'Many nations' ask US Coast Guard for help

Several countries have been reaching out to the United States Coast Guard for support, including training, as China pursues its sweeping South China Sea claims more aggressively, a USCG official said.

- PIA LEE-BRAGO

USCG Pacific Area deputy commander Rear Admiral Andrew Sugimoto said the USCG is deploying an Indo-Pacific support cutter, which is going around Pacific island nations providing training and assistance.

"There have been many nations that have reached out to the United States Coast Guard, and we look forward to working with each and every one of them.

We have shifted some resources to the Pacific, specifically to be able to meet those commitments," Sugimoto said at a virtual press briefing last Tuesday.

US ships have been conducting exercises with the Philippines, Japan and South Korea.

The USCG cutter Waesche recently returned from patrol in the Western Pacific. It recently hosted observers from the coast guards of the Philippines, Japan and Vietnam for 13 days on board, according to Sugimoto.

Sugimoto said the USCG looks forward to doing future shiprider events or having observers on board in future deployments.

"And we very much look forward to working with Japan, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and others that ask to do so," he added.

China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels rammed and fired water cannons at a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) ship near Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Sunday afternoon.

Sugimoto emphasized that the deliberate ramming of and firing of water cannons at Philippine vessels by China ships are a "clear act of bullying by one individual that wants to exert its influences over another nation with complete disregard for the rules and the international law that exists."

Phl seeks more int'l support

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. is asking the international community for more support as the Philippines continues to promote a rules-based international order in the West Philippine Sea.