Philippines launches strategy of publicizing Chinese actions

The Philippine coast guard has launched a strategy of publicizing aggressive actions by China in the disputed South China Sea, which has countered Chinese propaganda and sparked international condemnation that has put Beijing under the spotlight, a Philippine official said Wednesday.
Manila’s coast guard has intensified patrols in the disputed waters and taken extra efforts to document and publicize assertive Chinese behavior in the strategic waterway, including a Feb. 6 incident in which a Chinese coast guard ship aimed a military-grade laser that briefly blinded some crew members on a Philippine patrol boat off a disputed reef.
The coast guard protested and released a video of the incident, which sparked alarm in the Philippines, the United States and some other Western countries. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. summoned China’s ambassador to Manila and later said the Philippine military has shifted its focus from fighting Muslim and communist insurgents and other internal threats to external defense amid long-seething South China Sea territorial disputes.