Philippine President Marcos says that China laser incident not enough to activate US defence pact

MANILA, Feb 18 (AP): The Philippine president said Saturday the Chinese coast guard’s aiming of a military-grade laser that briefly blinded some crew aboard a Philippine patrol vessel in the disputed South China Sea was not enough for him to invoke a mutual defence treaty with the United States but added he told China that such aggression should stop.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told a news conference he also reminded China’s ambassador to Manila that escalating aggression and incursions into Philippine waters by Beijing’s coast guard, navy and maritime militia forces violate an agreement he struck with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month.