US entitled to 'innocent passage' in West PH Sea—envoy

Manila Bulletin

United States Ambassador to Manila MaryKay Carlson affirmed that the US Navy’s recent operations in the Scarborough Shoal is critical to freedom of navigation in the region and the US’ role in upholding international maritime laws. (MB video by Raymund Antonio)  READ: https://mb.com.ph/2025/08/16/us-entitled-to-innocent-passage-in-west-ph-seaenvoy  Join this channel to get access to perks:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5664f6TkaeHgwBly50DWZQ/join   Subscribe to the Manila Bulletin Online channel! - https://www.youtube.com/TheManilaBulletin   Visit our website at http://mb.com.ph  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/manilabulletin  Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/manila_bulletin  Instagram: https://instagram.com/manilabulletin  Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletin   #ManilaBulletinOnline  #ManilaBulletin  #LatestNews

Transcript

00:00So a lot of incidents in Scarborough Shoal this week mentioned it earlier in your speech,

00:05but how concerning is it, the dangerous maneuvers of China,

00:08and also the presence of two warships, two U.S. Navy warships also needed.

00:13So the question on the warship, the U.S. warship,

00:16Sophia addressed that first.

00:19That is a freedom of navigation operation, what we call a FANAC,

00:23and the United States Navy has always made it very clear,

00:28and the United States military overall,

00:31that we will fly, sail, and operate anywhere that international law allows.

00:37And that's called straits passage or innocent passage in this case.

00:42It wasn't through a strait, but innocent passage through,

00:47whether it's through territorial seas or through the high seas,

00:50all vessels are entitled to innocent passage.

00:56And that kind of innocent passage is essential,

00:59whether it's, and our warships do it,

01:01to demonstrate that commercial vessels also must enjoy that same right under international law.

01:09There are trillions of dollars worth of commerce

01:11that pass through the West Philippians Sea, the South China Sea,

01:15and the Taiwan Strait.

01:16So exercising those freedom of navigation operations is essential to demonstrating to the world

01:23that the United States takes very seriously our obligation to uphold and defend international law of the sea.

01:30And with regard to what happened this week on, that was on the, on August 11th,

01:37near Scarborough's show, Bajo de Masaluc,

01:40that was just absolutely shocking.

01:43The video was outrageous to see.

01:46Unfortunately, that type of aggressive behavior out in the West Philippine Sea by China

01:53is, is, is not, uh, unusual.

01:57We've seen shouldering and ramming and harbor canning.

02:01Uh, we've seen, uh, the use of military-grade lasers.

02:05Virtually every month since I arrived here in, you know, three years ago.

02:11I mean, there may have been some periods where it was toned down,

02:13but, uh, that was what we saw on video.

02:17That this type of activity is happening outside of Cameron Range all the time.

02:22When, simply because your fisher foe, or your Coast Guard, uh, has some loss of life,

02:29uh, in that collision by the PLA Navy vessel and the Chinese Coast Guard vessel,

02:35we, we, we are certainly lament that any loss of life that may have occurred.

02:39I was very, uh, heartened to see that the Philippine Coast Guard, uh,

02:44offered to render assistance immediately.

02:47Uh, they weren't taken up on that offer.

02:49The Philippine Coast Guard, uh, operates very professionally in the, uh, in, uh,

02:55in the high seas and in the, uh, waters under their jurisdiction and, in, in waters where

03:00they enjoy, uh, sovereign rights.

03:02So, we were dismayed to see that this type of aggressive activity, you know, illegal, coercive,

03:08aggressive and incentive activities in part of China continue to occur.

03:13Very sorry for the collision and very hopeful that perhaps this will be a, uh, a watershed

03:20event that could lead to ratcheting down some of these aggressive actions out in the West.

03:26So, Ambassador, just to clarify, with regard to the two warships, was that coincidental?

03:31That it happened immediately after the incident with the Chinese?

03:35I'm not, I'm not going to get into any specifics, uh, on the part, uh, of what the West, uh, what the, uh,

03:41what the, uh, Seventh Fleet does and what we, uh, our, our operations out of Endo Pecum are highly coordinated,

03:47and they do, uh, operate on a very, uh, specific schedule.

03:51Uh, but in terms of the timing, I'm, I'm not going to second guess, uh, what was, uh, what

03:56was happening now.

03:57Okay, but definitely coordinated with the Philippine government.

04:00The, the, the rules of, uh, of freedom of navigation operations are very, uh, well established

04:07at Endo Pecum.

04:08All right.

04:09All right.

04:10All right.

04:11All right.

04:12All right.

04:13All right.

04:14All right.

04:15All right.

04:16All right.

04:17All right.

04:18All right.

04:19All right.

04:20Well, I, again, we had U.S. naval vessels sailing through that area.

04:26The presence of a naval vessel in and of itself is not, um, necessarily problematic.

04:32It's the illegal force of aggressive and deceptive backholds on behalf of those vessels, on the

04:39part of those vessels, whether they're white holes or gray holes, that makes the activity

04:43dangerous and respiratory and, and, uh, uncalled for and illegal under international law.

04:50So with that, thank you so much for being here.

04:52Really appreciate it.

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