China hazes Philippine coast guard vessel

The Philippines on Monday accused a Chinese coast guard ship of using a military-grade laser to temporarily blind some of its crew members. The Chinese vessel then allegedly came dangerously close to the Philippine vessel to try to block it from coming near the Second Thomas Shoal—a submerged reef that Philippine forces took control of in 1999 by intentionally running one of their ships aground on it. The Philippine military has maintained a contingent of troops on the grounded ship since then. The Philippine coast guard vessel involved in the altercation with China was delivering supplies to the troops on that ship.

Why a laser, though? Military-grade lasers are often used to blind opposing forces. They’ve also been used to point out targets to overhead aircraft. The United Nations in 1995 prohibited the use of laser weapons meant to blind opposing forces.

Dig Deeper: Read William Inboden’s column in WORLD Opinions about China’s recent spy balloon that floated over the United States, and how it’s well past time to take China’s spy threat seriously.