Chinese coastguard vessels immediately sailed to waters near the Second Thomas Shoal to retrieve and inspect the device, according to the video, which has been shared thousands of times on various social media platforms.
In the video, a battery specification label can be seen on a device with the words “Ultra Electronics” at the top.
According to the company’s website, Ultra Electronics is a British defence and security company that supplies the US Army. Its businesses include maritime communications, precision control systems and forensic technology.
Yuyuan Tantian’s video cited a maritime expert named Yang Xiao as saying the device could “detect” and “counter” Chinese submarine signals underwater.
The video claimed that the sonar emitted by the device could disturb marine life such as dolphins, possibly even stranding them.
Neither Chinese or US authorities have commented on the video.
China and the Philippines have competing sovereignty claims over the Second Thomas Shoal, where both sides have clashed several times in recent months. Beijing calls the shoal Renai Jiao, while Manila calls it Ayungin Shoal.
The latest in a series of stand-offs in the busy, resource-rich waterway over the past year has heightened fears of a major conflict in the region, especially as the Philippines moves closer to the US, its treaty ally.
Washington earlier said it stood by its long-time defence ally, condemning Beijing’s “escalatory and irresponsible actions” in the area and reiterated that armed attacks on Philippine forces, public vessels, aircraft and coastguards would invoke their mutual defence treaty.
CCTV said on Saturday that a People’s Liberation Army naval task force had “recently” conducted a four-day combat drill in the South China Sea, but did not give an exact date.
