US, Canada slam ‘deliberate ramming’ by Chinese vessel

MANILA, Philippines — The United States and Canada affirmed the Philippines’ position on Friday’s attack on one of its vessels, with both countries calling that incident a “deliberate ramming” by the China Coast Guard (CCG).

US Ambassador to the Philippines Lee Lipton on Friday said on X (formerly twitter): “We STRONGLY CONDEMN the China Coast Guard’s DELIBERATE RAMMING of the Philippine BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) vessel near Bombay Shoal, just 54 [nautical miles] off the coast of Palawan.”

Lipton also commended the “sustained professionalism” of the Philippines in response to that attack.

The Canadian Embassy on Saturday said on Facebook: “Canada is concerned by the Chinese Coast Guard deliberately ramming into a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources fisheries enforcement vessel off the coast of the Philippines.”

“These dangerous maneuvers jeopardize regional peace and stability,” it added.

The BFAR vessel was delivering fuel assistance to Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea when it was struck by CCG-21585 about 100 kilometers (54 nautical miles) from the coast of Palawan.

Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said Friday that CCG-21585 had “intentionally” rammed the Datu Magat Salamat, calling it “the closest ever that China Coast Guard did this intentional ramming and disregarded the safety of our personnel,”

No Coast Guard or BFAR personnel were injured. But the collision damaged the BFAR vessel’s railings, deck, stanchions and other structures, forcing it to cut short its mission to deliver subsidized fuel to Filipino fishermen.

China Coast Guard spokesperson Jiang Lue said the Philippine vessel ignored repeated warnings before deliberately changing course and accelerating across the bow of the Chinese ship. He said the Philippine side was responsible for the incident.

The National Maritime Council on Saturday said it was “particularly concerned that the illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous actions of the CCG vessel placed the civilian crew of the BFAR vessel at unnecessary risk while carrying out a legitimate livelihood-support mission.” INQ

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