The Philippines said on Monday that a Chinese coast guard vessel used a “military-grade laser” against its ship in the disputed South China Sea last week to impede a resupply mission, temporarily blinding its crew.
The incident occurred on Feb. 6 in Ayungin Shoal, also known as the Second Thomas Shoal or Renai Reef by China, of the Spratly Islands about 105 nautical miles (195 kilometers) off the Philippine province of Palawan.
Although the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) classifies maritime areas within 200 nautical miles of coastal nations’ borders part of their exclusive economic zones, China’s ruling communist party (CCP) disputes Filipino sovereignty over the island—which is part of the Spratly archipelago of 100 small islands and reefs claimed in full or part by the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Taiwan, and according to its “nine-dash line” in 1952, China….