The United States reiterated its position to stand with and defend the Philippines after reports said the Chinese Coast Guard blinded a Philippine Coast Guard crew using laser devices.
The crew of the Philippines BPR Malapascua was allegedly temporarily blinded on Feb. 6 by a “green laser light” near the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, an area where the U.S. State Department says China has “no lawful maritime claims.”
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The light reportedly illuminated twice, and the Chinese Coast Guard vessel “made dangerous maneuvers in the water, blocking the Philippines’ boat from delivering food and supplies to military personnel aboard the BRP Sierra Madre. The boat was grounded on the shoal, which the Philippines claim “is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights.”
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said China’s behavior was “provocative and unsafe” and had interfered with the Philippines’ “lawful operations” in the South China Sea.
“More broadly, the PRC’s dangerous operational behavior directly threatens regional peace and stability, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law, and undermines the rules-based international order,” Price said.
An international tribunal declared in 2016 that Beijing had no claims to the Second Thomas Shoal area, but China has since rejected the ruling.
China refers to the shoal as the Renai Reef and said the Philippines trespassed into Chinese waters.
“The Chinese maritime police vessel defended China’s sovereignty and maritime order in accordance with China’s domestic law and international law,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said via CNN. However, Wang did not specify what action the Chinese took.
The U.S. said any attack against the Philippines would result in American defense mobilization.
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“The United States stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms an armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard in the South China Sea, would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments,” Price said, citing a 1951 mutual defense treaty, according to the Hill.
This is the latest incident in a tense battle between China and the U.S., after the American military shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on Feb. 4. U.S. fighter jets also shot down three unidentified floating objects over North American airspace last weekend.
