Chinese military ship accused of shining laser light at Philippine coastguard vessel

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, which happened on February 6, 2023, is the latest episode in a series of maritime incidents between Manila 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.