Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: The Philippine Coast Guard said on Monday that laser light of military grade had been shone at one of its boats in the disputed South China Sea. The Philippine force accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of the incident, which temporarily blinded crewmembers.
The incident took place on February 6, about 20 kilometers from Second Thomas Shoal, which is in the Spratly Islands. This is the area where Philippine marines are stationed, the coast guard stated in a statement.
This was the latest episode in a series of maritime incidents between China and the Philippines. The sovereignty of almost the entire South China Sea is claimed by Beijing.
Just days before the incident, Washington and Manila agreed to relaunch combined patrols in the South China Sea and struck a pact to allow US troops access to four more military bases in the Southeast Asian archipelago country.
Last week, the patrol boat belonging to the Philippines was on a support mission involved in resupply and rotation for the troops. The soldiers were stationed on a navy ship grounded on the shoal as a sign of Manila’s territorial claims.
Chinese naval vessel shone green laser light twice
The vessel belonging to the Chinese Coast Guard vessel shone a green laser light twice at the Philippine ship that it said was military grade. This caused temporary blindness to the crew positioned at the statement claimed.
Along with China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Vietnam also have overlapping claims to different areas of the South China Sea.
