The United States on Monday described China’s use of a “laser” against a Philippine Coast Guard ship in early February as “provocative” and “dangerous,” at a time when relations between Washington and Beijing are strained again.
“The United States stands by its Filipino allies following reports from the Chinese Coast Guard, which used a laser against the crew of a Philippine Coast Guard vessel in the South China Sea on February 6,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in an explanation.
China’s behavior was “provocative” and “dangerous,” “resulting in the crew being temporarily blinded,” he added, hours after the Philippines made the incident public.
This Chinese operation “directly threatens peace and stability and undermines the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea,” the spokesman also pointed out.
The facts happened about twenty kilometers from Second Thomas Atoll in the Spratly Archipelago, where Filipino soldiers are stationed.
“China has no legitimate sea rights” on this atoll, recalls Ned Price.
This is the latest maritime incident between Beijing and Manila not involving this sea, a strategic space rich in energy and fisheries resources.
Beijing claims almost all of it, but the Philippines, as well as Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei also have claims. In doing so, China has ignored an international tribunal’s ruling that its demands have no legal basis.
Washington and Manila, which signed a mutual defense agreement, agreed in early February to resume joint patrols in the South China Sea.
The two allies notably unveiled a deal that would allow American soldiers access to four additional bases in the Philippines to counter the rise of Beijing’s military power in the region.
These statements also come at a time when relations between China and the United States are strained again amid allegations of spying on each other after a Chinese balloon that was flying over protected sites in the United States was destroyed on February 4.