Manila, February 14 The Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs filed a diplomatic protest against China on Tuesday following the Philippine Coast Guard’s complaint that one of its vessels was targeted by a “military” blinding laser from a Chinese patrol boat. in the South China Sea, a theater of territorial tensions.
The letter ‘condemns harassment, dangerous manoeuvres’ and the use of a ‘military laser’ by a Chinese patrol boat against a Philippine Coast Guard vessel in the vicinity of Ayungin Atoll in the archipelago of Spratly, which is disputed by China and the Philippines. the sovereignty of various territories.
The incident, which occurred on February 6 in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines (less than 200 nautical miles from its shores), was denounced on Monday by the Philippine Coast Guard, which accused a Chinese coastal patrol of stepping up its methods. of harassment by using a blinding laser for the first time.
“The Philippines has the right to conduct legitimate business in its exclusive economic zone…China has neither the power nor the right to move around Ayungin Atoll or any part of the economic zone. exclusive to the Philippines,” the spokeswoman said. today from the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines, Teresita Daza.
Daza’s reaction follows a comment from China’s Foreign Ministry the day before, saying its coastguard ‘acted with professionalism and restraint’ when a Philippine vessel entered the waters of Ren Reef ‘without permission’. ‘ai (as China refers to Ayungin Atoll), over which Beijing asserts sovereignty.
In 2022, the Philippines filed 195 diplomatic protests against China, and so far this year there are already eight including the latter.
This new incident occurs at a particularly delicate time; On February 2, the Philippines and the United States signed an agreement that guarantees the North American country access for its troops to four new military bases in “strategic” areas of the Philippines, which China considers “aggravating tensions in Asia”.
The first world power expressed its support for the Philippines on Tuesday through a statement from the American embassy in the Philippines, describing the attitude of the Asian giant as “provocative” and “dangerous”.
Furthermore, the United States reiterates in its statement that in the event of an armed attack on the Philippine fleet, the Mutual Defense Treaty that the two countries signed in 1951 would be invoked.
China and the Philippines claim sovereignty over several islands and atolls in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely on ill-founded ‘historical grounds’, with parts of those territories also disputed with Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and Brunei. EFE
fsg/pav/ah