Philippine Coast Guard says Chinese ship aimed laser at one of its vessels | CNN

Are they deliberately trying to provoke trouble?

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."Previous alleged laser incidents
Allegations of Chinese ships aiming lasers as adversary craft have arisen before.

In February 2022, Australia alleged a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship “illuminated” an Australian P-8A aircraft, a reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare plane, as it was flying over the Arafura Sea, the body of water between Australia’s Northern Territory and the island of New Guinea to the north.

At the time, China said the Australian claims were “not true.”

“The normal navigation of the Chinese ship on the high seas conforms to relevant international law and practice and is completely legitimate and lawful,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang said last year.

In May 2019, Australian pilots said they were targeted multiple times by commercial lasers during missions over the South China Sea.

And in a report in June 2018, US military officials told CNN that there were at least 20 suspected Chinese laser incidents in the eastern Pacific from September 2017 to June 2018.

The alleged incident on February 6 came just days after Manila, which has a mutual defense treaty with Washington, announced plans to allow the US military access to more bases in the Philippines.

On February 2, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the move “escalated tension in the region and endangers regional peace and stability.”

The United States makes no territorial claims in the South China Sea, but US military vessels routinely operate in the waterway in accordance to international law and freedom of the high seas."...