Spotlights into lasers expose shameful tricks of Manila

The Philippines recently claimed that Chinese vessels used "high-energy lasers" to irradiate the crew of two "civilian vessels" of the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources near Banyue Jiao (Half Moon Reef), with the Philippine crew alleging that the "laser irradiation" lasted 5 minutes, which stung their eyes for a while, jeopardizing the safety of the crew and the vessels.

While the Philippine BFAR criticized China, saying that the lasers can cause temporary blindness and eye pain, the Philippine media used the incident as an excuse to make a big fuss, claiming Chinese vessels were carrying out "dangerous operations" in the South China Sea and even attacking Philippine vessels operating in Manila's "exclusive economic zone".

But people who have even a basic understanding of the situation in the region know that the Philippine allegations are baseless. The reality is that a number of Philippine vessels sailed to Zhongye Dao, which the Philippines has illegally occupied, on the night of Dec 2 to provide fuel and other supplies to the crew stationed there. While the Philippine vessels were returning from Zhongye Dao, the Chinese Coast Guard vessels used searchlights to warn them against indulging in such activities, which is a common practice internationally. The Chinese vessels did not use any high-energy lasers against the Philippine ships.

Manila's allegation that the Chinese vessels used lasers to injure its crew is simply baseless. High-energy lasers were developed primarily to strengthen air defense, defend against drones and artillery shells, and blind satellites and sensors, not to target individuals.

There was no need for China to use lasers to thwart the Philippines' maritime activities. The fact that the Philippine crew, as claimed by Manila, had to rely on night vision to perceive the laser beam is inconsistent with the effects of offensive laser devices.

Manila's allegations are untrue also because despite the Philippines' recent provocations and attempts to escalate tensions and even trigger conflict, China has been maintaining calm by exercising a high degree of restraint. This makes it impossible for the Philippines, which intends to project China as a "bully", to prove its claims.

The Philippines is desperate to create something out of nothing and play the role of a paranoid victim only to end up portraying itself as a clumsy troublemaker. It also has been trying to encourage speculation on the South China Sea issue. Given the upcoming change of government in certain countries outside the region, the Philippines, which has become anti-China "pawn" at the insistence of the only superpower, is afraid of being abandoned, and therefore has intensified its provocative moves against China to seek those countries' sympathy and support.

The Philippines' allegations that Chinese vessels used high-energy lasers against its naval crew are not worth refuting. Moreover, this is not the first time that Manila has used such tricks as a means to slander China and has exposed itself as a troublemaker.

The Philippines should realize that its continuous violation of the consensuses reached by the countries in and around the South China Sea and attempts to trigger conflict in the region can no longer make waves. If Manila is desperate to make a fuss over nothing and use an incident as a pretext to create trouble, it will only end up further exposing itself as a mischief-maker.

The author is an assistant professor at the China Institute for Marine Affairs.