Chinese Coast Guard Blinds Philippine Crew With Military-Grade Laser

The Philippine Coast Guard said in a Facebook post on Monday that a Chinese Coast Guard ship used a military-grade laser to temporarily blind Philippine Guard vessel crew near the Spratly Islands on February 6.

• The Philippine vessel was sailing to deliver food and supplies to Navy vessels stationed in the Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef in the Spratly Island that is claimed by China but lies well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
• The shoal is currently occupied by the Philippines Navy.
• The Chinese vessel also came dangerously close to the Philippine ship.

The deliberate blocking of the Philippine government ships to deliver food and supplies to our military personnel … is a blatant disregard for, and a clear violation of, Philippine sovereign rights in this part of the West Philippine Sea.
—Philippine Coast Guard

• The Chinese Coast Guard similarly tried blocking Philippine ships from reaching the shoal back in August 2022.

South China Sea bully: Regardless of international law and territorial boundaries, China behaves as if it were the sole sovereign over the South China Sea. It claims the waters as its own and repeatedly confronts the surrounding nations. The Trumpet has been warning that these threats will get even more dangerous than just lasers blinding foreign crews.

China is intimidating the nations of Southeast Asia into submission to its will. It is forcing these countries to do what it wants. Everything is headed in the direction of war.
—Gerald Flurry, Trumpet editor in chief, “China Is Steering the World Toward War”