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South China Sea: Chinese coastguard ship accused of shining ‘laser light’ at Philippine boat
- The incident occurred when the Philippine coastguard vessel was supporting a ‘rotation and resupply mission’ for the troops stationed on Second Thomas Shoal
- The Chinese ship also made ‘dangerous manoeuvres’ by coming within about 140m of the Philippine boat
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The Philippine coastguard on Monday accused a Chinese coastguard vessel of shining a “military-grade laser light” at one of its boats in the disputed South China Sea, temporarily blinding crew members.
The incident happened on February 6 nearly 20km from Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, where Philippine marines are stationed, the coastguard said in a statement.
It was the latest episode in a series of maritime incidents between the Philippines and Beijing, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
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The incident also occurred days after the United States and the Philippines agreed to resume joint patrols in the sea and struck a deal to give US troops access to another four military bases in the Southeast Asian country.
The Philippine patrol boat was supporting a “rotation and resupply mission” last week for the troops, who live in a derelict navy ship grounded on the shoal to assert Manila’s territorial claims.
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