The Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese Coast Guard vessel of hitting a Philippine Coast Guard vessel with a military laser.
Manila said the laser temporarily blinded some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea, calling it a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights.
The Chinese vessel also maneuvered dangerously close, about 450 feet, on Feb. 6 to prevent the Philippine patrol vessel BRP Malapascua from approaching Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef occupied by Philippine forces, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement Explanation .
The Philippines has filed nearly 200 diplomatic protests against China’s aggressive actions in the disputed waters in 2022 alone.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions between the US – an ally of the Philippines – and China. Earlier this month, Washington struck a deal with Manila to secure access to four more military bases in the Philippines days before a US warplane shot down a Chinese spy balloon that had been flying over American airspace.
The Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese Coast Guard vessel of hitting a Philippine Coast Guard vessel with a military laser on February 6. Pictured: An image released by the Philippine Coast Guard showing a green light coming from the Chinese ship
Manila said the laser (pictured) temporarily blinded some of its crew in the disputed South China Sea, calling it a “blatant” violation of Manila’s sovereign rights
Tensions have also been rising in recent months and years over China’s plans to launch an invasion of Taiwan, which it considers its own, in the coming years. The US has announced that its armed forces would defend the island in the event of an invasion.
China claims virtually all of the South China Sea, putting it on a collision course with other claimants.
Despite friendly overtures to Beijing by former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in January, tensions persisted and led to a closer military alliance between the Philippines and the US
Despite previously attempting to block Philippine Coast Guard vessels in the disputed waters, the Chinese Coast Guard used lasers for the first time, causing physical suffering among Filipino personnel, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Armand Balilo told The Associated Press.
“The Chinese ship twice illuminated the green laser light in the direction of the BRP Malapascua, temporarily blinding her crew on the bridge,” a Filipino statement said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila initially did not comment.
Images provided by the PCG showed a green light emanating from a Chinese vessel with bow number 5205.
The Philippine ship was forced to leave the area, where it escorted a supply vessel taking food and sailors to a Philippine Navy guard ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, which has been stranded on the shore of Second Thomas Shoal since 1999, the Guard said .
The 330-foot World War II vessel was intentionally grounded on the shoal known locally as Ayungin in 1999 to bolster Manila’s claims of sovereignty in the Spratly Archipelago.
The Chinese vessel (seen in the distance in an image released by the Philippine Coast Guard) also maneuvered dangerously close, about 450 feet, to prevent the Philippine patrol vessel BRP Malapascua from approaching Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef protected by Philippine was occupied by forces on February 6, the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement
Pictured: The Chinese vessel can be seen in an image released by the Philippine Coast Guard
The incident took place off the Second Thomas Shoal, 105 nautical miles (195 km) off the Philippine province of Palawan, the temporary home of a small military contingent aboard a rusting ship. Pictured: A map showing the location of the swarm
“The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government vessels to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel aboard the BRP Sierra Madre is a flagrant disregard and a clear violation of Philippine sovereignty rights in this part of the western Philippine Sea,” the Coast Guard said, using the name the Philippines adopted for the stretch of water near its west coast.
It was not immediately clear if the Philippine resupply mission got through despite the incident.
The Chinese Coast Guard also blocked Filipino vessels escorting a supply ship from approaching the Second Thomas Shoal in August, the Coast Guard said.
At the time, one of the two Chinese ships, which was joined by two Chinese civilian vessels, removed the cover on its 70mm armament, the Coast Guard said, adding that they were not distrusting China’s aggression in protecting Philippine sovereignty in the disputed sea would be deterred.
Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei also have overlapping claims in the resource-rich and busy waterway through which much of the world’s trade and oil flows.
The United States has no claim to the disputed sea but has deployed armed forces to patrol the waters to promote freedom of navigation and overflight – moves that have angered Beijing, which has warned Washington not to get involved in any more allegedly interfering in purely Asian disputes.
The US Navy and Marine Corps held joint drills in the South China Sea over the weekend, at a time of heightened tensions with Beijing over the downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
The US has taken steps to rebuild its military might in the Philippines more than 30 years after closing its major bases in the country and strengthening an arc of military alliances in Asia.
Pictured: The Chinese ship with bow number 5205 is pictured in August. The same ship was accused by Manila of shining the laser
It’s not the first time China has been accused of using lasers in the region.
In February last year, Australia accused Beijing of an “act of intimidation” after a Chinese naval ship aimed a laser at an Australian military surveillance plane.
The reported offer to block the Philippine supply mission comes as Marcos has expressed his willingness to forge a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with Japan to increase safety at sea.
Marcos visited Japan last week to forge closer security ties with Tokyo, which in December announced its biggest military buildup since World War II, fueled by concerns about aggressive Chinese actions in the region.
The Philippine president recently granted the United States access to additional military bases in the Philippines under a VFA, a move China said undermined regional stability and increased tensions. The VFA provides rules for rotating thousands of US troops in and out of the Philippines for exercises.