PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines: Chinese ships remain an intimidating presence around a Philippine-controlled shoal in the contested Spratly Islands chain where a recent laser-pointing incident has become a new source of tension between the two countries.
During an aerial visit to the area earlier in the week arranged by the Philippine Coast Guard, reporters including from Kyodo News witnessed how the only Philippines’ outpost in Ayungin Shoal in Spratly islands was decrepit, in contrast to the teeming number of Chinese Coast Guard vessels that surrounded the shoal.
The rare trip came after a vessel belonging to the Southeast Asian country’s coast guard was locked in with a “military-grade laser” from a Chinese coast guard ship in the vicinity of the Ayungin Shoal on Feb 6.
The incident quickly escalated into a diplomatic row, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. immediately summoning China’s ambassador and protesting against Beijing’s aggressive activities in the resource-rich South China Sea.
The Philippines, which has described the Chinese Coast Guard’s actions as a “dangerous manoeuvre”, is also changing its tack in dealing with China by drumming up support from other countries.
Following the laser incident, the United States, Australia and Japan have expressed their concern over Beijing’s behaviour as well as their support of the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
Manila will from here on “expose” China’s behaviour in the South China Sea, Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard’s adviser for maritime security, told Kyodo News.
“We need the international community to know (what’s going on),” he said.
