According to Philippine media reports, on the evening of December 2, two official vessels of the Philippine Fisheries Bureau were irradiated by Chinese lasers for five minutes near the Banyue Jiao. The Philippine side claimed that no one was injured, but some people "felt a sharp pain in their eyes at one time, affecting the safety of navigation.". At the time of the incident, two Philippine government ships were on their way to Zhongye Dao to provide fuel and supplies for Philippine fishermen. 

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Tarriela said that the Philippines has been patrolling the South China Sea with Coast Guard vessels for many years, but China has regularly deployed warships in the South China Sea, and the Philippines now lists the dispatch of warships as one of the options. Although Philippine President Marcos later stated that the Philippines would not send warships to confront China in the "disputed waters of the South China Sea", the Philippines' recent continuous stirring up of public opinion and escalation of maritime incidents actually reveals its lack of sincerity in properly resolving the South China Sea dispute.

From the point of view of means, the Philippine side has previously hyped China's use of laser irradiation to carry out law enforcement activities in the South China Sea, and this farce of the Philippine side can be said to be a repetition of the same trick, nothing new. This time, the Philippine side again distorted China's normal law enforcement equipment as military-grade lasers, exaggerated the damage it caused to Philippine personnel, and even unreasonably accused China's law enforcement of affecting its navigation safety. The Philippine side intends to release false information to the international community through exaggerated description, constantly attract the attention of international public opinion, and gain international sympathy by smearing China's legitimate law enforcement activities.

In terms of intention, as an important part of the recent infringement activities in the South China Sea, the Philippine side will undoubtedly heat up the current unstable situation in the South China Sea and serve the Philippine side's private interests by stirring up the South China Sea. After the passage of theMaritime Zones Act and Archipelagic Sea Lanes Act, the Philippines has stepped up its activities on Banyue Jiao, Zhongye Dao and other maritime features and their adjacent waters to highlight its intention to enforce domestic laws, echoing the Philippines' infringement activities on Huangyan Dao, Hou Teng Jiao and other features. At home, Marcos Jr. is caught up in the growing political struggle domestically, and hyping China's law enforcement activities has become a political tool to divert the attention of the domestic people, unite domestic hardliners, and win the support of the United States and Western countries.

From the legal point of view, the Philippine side's unauthorized intrusion into Banyue Jiao violates international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and is a serious violation of China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests. Banyue Jiao, where the Philippine government ship is located, and Zhongye Dao, where supplies are provided, are part of China's Nansha Qundao. China has jurisdiction over the waters adjacent to these maritime features. Without China's permission, the Philippine side cannot unilaterally carry out replenishment operations. This provocative action of the Philippine side also violates the international principle of resolving disputes by peaceful means. The Philippine side should have negotiated and consulted with the Chinese side first, and the Chinese side will properly arrange the supplies of the Philippine side based on humanitarian considerations.

This groundless and groundless accusation by the Philippine side is nothing but a manifestation of its exhaustion of skills. The Philippines seems to have fallen into a quagmire of wrong thinking without knowing it, in an attempt to achieve some ulterior motives through such false hype. The "laser irradiation" incident is totally false, but the Philippines has repeatedly cited it, which not only undermines regional peace and stability, but also damages the fragile mutual trust between the two sides. In international relations, sincerity and cooperation are the right way, relying on such meaningless hype will only damage their international image and let other countries see their true face. The Philippines should abandon this wrong approach, handle its relations with China in a more rational and pragmatic manner, and jointly contribute to the prosperity and development of the South China Sea region, rather than going further and further down the wrong path of threatening regional stability.

(Author: Xu Qi, Vice Dean, Institute of Foreign Rule of Law, Jinan University)