China Uses Military-Grade Laser to Blind Philippine Coast Guard

The Philippines on Monday released what was likely the first photographic account of China's use of a "military-grade laser" against opposing forces at sea.

A China Coast Guard vessel twice directed a high-power laser at Filipino patrol vessel BRP Malapascua on February 6 during an encounter in the South China Sea, "causing temporary blindness to her crew at the bridge," the Philippine Coast Guard said in a statement.

The Malapascua was supporting a Philippine Navy resupply run to Manila-controlled Second Thomas Shoal—an atoll in the contested Spratly Islands—when the China Coast Guard ship and two Chinese maritime militia boats formed a blockade, the statement said.

The China Coast Guard vessel was accused of making "dangerous maneuvers" by coming within 150 yards of the smaller boat. Images published by the Philippine Coast Guard appeared to show personnel on the white-hull ship removing the cover from its 70-millimeter autocannon.

Philippine forces were attempting to resupply a contingent of marines on BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era landing craft deliberately submerged at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to bolster Manila's claim to the maritime territory, which it calls Ayungin Shoal and Beijing calls Renai Jiao.

The atoll is 105 nautical miles west of the Philippine province of Palawan, inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone. China claims it and its surrounding waters as part of its wider sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, which persist despite a 2016 ruling in The Hague.

Beijing's harassment of Manila's forces has stopped short of a direct attack on the Sierra Madre; Bold aggression against the rusting outpost, which Manila has yet to officially decommission, would trigger American intervention under the terms of the United States-Philippines mutual defense pact.

"The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea," the Philippine Coast Guard said, referring to the easternmost portion of the South China Sea.

Colonel Medel Aguilar, a Philippine armed forces spokesperson, told reporters: "It's time for the Chinese government to restraint its forces so that it does not commit any provocative act that will endanger the lives of people."

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said later Monday that accounts of the encounter were "incorrect," and that China Coast Guard personnel were "professional and restrained."

Wang urged the Philippines to "avoid any action that might escalate the dispute and complicate the situation." Beijing and Manila were in touch through diplomatic channels, he said.

In the last year, the U.S. and its allies have publicized a number of instances in which they have accused Chinese forces of unsafe military conduct, including in, but not limited to, the South China Sea.

In February 2022, Australian officials said a Chinese naval vessel illuminated an Australian P-8A maritime patrol aircraft in the Arafura Sea off northern Australia. Leaders in Canberra said the move was reckless, but Beijing has defended the behavior of its sailors and pilots.

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