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In response to China’s most recent aggressive actions in the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, including its “dangerous maneuvers” and deployment of a military-grade laser on a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel, the Philippine government launched a diplomatic protest against China on Tuesday.

The “acts of hostility” are “disturbing and unsatisfactory,” according to Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza, as they come soon after their bilateral meeting in January between Presidents Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Xi Jinping of China.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila received the message verbally on Tuesday, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5205 harassed the PCG vessel BRP Malapascua on February 6 by “condemning the stalking, harassment, unsafe maneuvers, directing of military-grade laser, and illegal radio challenges” in a diplomatic note.

The DFA said that the CCG’s activities violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights and exclusive economic zone and posed a threat to the country’s security and sovereignty (EEZ).

“Within its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, the Philippines has the right to engage in lawful operations. In and near Ayungin Shoal, as well as anywhere else in the Philippine EEZ, China has no legal authority or jurisdiction, according to Daza.

We urge China to abide by its legal commitments under international law, such as the 1982 UNCLOS and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration Award, and demand that its ships stop engaging in hostile behavior against Philippine boats.

In another statement, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the Philippines’ authorized operations in and near Ayungin Shoal were hampered by the “provocative and hazardous” use of military-grade laser light.

In response to reports that the People’s Republic of China Coast Guard used laser weapons against the crew of a Philippine Coast Guard ship on February 6 in the South China Sea, he remarked, “The United States stands with our Philippine partners.”

China’s “dangerous operational activity directly threatens regional peace and security, infringes on the South China Sea’s freedom of navigation as guaranteed by international law, and undercuts the rules-based international order,” the official continued.

The event was justified on Sunday by Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as their Coast Guard’s response to Manila’s “intrusion” into the waters of the Ayungin Shoal without Chinese consent.

China Coast Guard fires a laser at a PCG ship off the coast of Ayungin.

HK Yu, the Australian ambassador to the Philippines, expressed alarm about China’s “unsafe and intimidating” move in a separate tweet.

In the South China Sea, a crucial international waterway, “we continue to appeal for peace, stability, and respect for international law,” she said.

According to the PCG report released on Monday, BRP Malapascua (MRRV-4403) was assisting the Philippine Navy’s rotation and resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal at the time of the incident.

“The CCG vessel was observed within 4 nautical miles of the BRP Malapascua as it maneuvered from the portside heading starboard side as it approached Ayungin Shoal at a distance of 10 nautical miles (nm). The BRP Malapascua’s crew at the bridge temporarily went blind as a result of the Chinese ship twice illuminating the green laser light in her direction. The Chinese ship also engaged in risky maneuvers by coming within 150 yards of the ship’s starboard quarter, according to the PCG.

Nearly all of the 200 nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines is contained within the Ayungin Shoal, also known as the Second Thomas Shoal.

Eight of the 203 notes verbales the DFA has filed against China since 2022 were submitted this year.

They will “continue to conduct due caution in preserving the country’s territorial integrity against external attack,” according to PCG commandant Admiral Artemio Abu.

The PCG ships will constantly be in the West Philippine Sea to maintain our presence and assert our sovereign rights, Abu said in a statement, “despite the risky maneuver of the much larger CCG ships and their hostile conduct at sea.”

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