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The Philippines has accused a Chinese coastguard ship of directing a “military-grade laser light” at one of its vessels, temporarily blinding a crew member and disrupting a mission in the South China Sea.
The Chinese ship shone a green laser light twice towards the boat as it sought to deliberately block a resupply mission, the Philippine coastguard said. It also accused the Chinese vessel of making “dangerous manoeuvres by approaching about 150 yards from the vessel’s starboard quarter”.
A video issued by the Philippine coastguard showed a green laser-like beam of light emitting from a ship in the distance.
The coastguard said the incident, on 6 February, occurred as one of its vessels was trying to support a navy mission to bring food and supplies to its troops at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the disputed Spratly Islands, and which is known as Ayungin Shoal in the Philippines.
A small Philippine military contingent is based onboard a rusting former US Navy ship that was deliberately grounded on Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to mark Manila’s claim to the reef.
