Phl protests China aggression vs BFAR vessel

The Philippines lodged yesterday a diplomatic protest against China over the latest aggressive acts of its naval and coast guard ships, which fired water cannons and rammed Philippine vessels in the vicinity of Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea.

- By PIA LEE-BRAGO

Manila protested the dangerous acts by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Navy against Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels operating in the country's waters on Wednesday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry called its vessels' action "justified, lawful, professional and restrained."

Three PCG and BFAR vessels were on routine patrol Philippine waters when several Chinese coast guard and navy ships approached and staged "aggressive actions."

"It's very clear. I mean, we were within our legal rights. And Japan, of course, has supported us on that and many other countries," Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said.

"Certainly, we don't understand why China again is repeating these actions which are clearly illegal," he added.

Japanese Ambassador Kazuya Endo expressed serious concern over repeated dangerous actions of China.

"We oppose any actions that escalate the tensions in the region and we're very much committed to the rule of law and it's quite clear the position of the Japanese government," Endo said.

The PCG also reported that four of its vessels deployed near Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea also encountered aggressive actions from several Chinese vessels Wednesday morning.

Manila has filed a total of 193 diplomatic protests since July 1, 2022 or the beginning of the Marcos administration.

For this year alone, 60 diplomatic protests had been filed against China, according to the DFA.

Global outrage China's latest show of aggression has again sparked international condemnation.

The United States, European Union, Japan, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Sweden, France, Canada, Germany, Finland and Norway have issued statements expressing serious concern over the latest incident.