Philippine President Marcos confronts Chinese envoy over laser incident at sea
- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr confronted Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian over ‘aggressive’ actions of Chinese coastguard against Philippine boat
- Also discussed was the ‘increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against the Philippine coastguard and fishermen’, a spokesperson said
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos summoned Beijing’s ambassador on Tuesday to express “serious concern” after a Chinese security vessel was accused of using a military-grade laser light against a Philippine patrol boat in the disputed South China Sea.
The confrontation marks an escalation in the diplomatic row, after the Philippine foreign ministry earlier filed a protest to the Chinese embassy condemning the “aggressive” actions of the Chinese coastguard vessel that it said left Filipino crew members temporarily blinded.
Marcos confronted Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian on Tuesday “over the increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against Philippine Coast Guard and our Filipino fishermen”, spokeswoman Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil said.
The Chinese embassy said the men had discussed, among other things, how to “properly manage maritime differences between China and the Philippines”.
The laser incident happened on February 6 nearly 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands, where Philippine marines are stationed in a derelict navy ship grounded to assert Manila’s territorial claim in the waters.
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Chinese military ship accused of shining laser light at Philippine coastguard vessel
It is the latest in a series of maritime incidents between the Philippines and China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea and has ignored an international court ruling that its claims have no legal basis.
