China is planning to arm ships that patrol disputed islands with microwave pain guns, a move that comes after two countries elevated their territorial dispute with China over some islands in the South China Sea before an international court.

Vietnam and the Philippines believe it is the best way to settle the question who owns the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands. China insists the Permanent Council of Arbitration has no jurisdiction over the issue and would rather settle the territorial dispute in a military way, reports Quartz.

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Also known as Poly WB-1, the Chinese invention uses microwave beams that are one millimeter thick to heat the water molecules under the skin of a person. The victim of such beams would feel "unbelievable pain" when the pain gun is pointed.

Actually, the U.S. has its own version of the microwave pain gun, called Active Denial System, it was supposed to be used in Afghanistan. However, Washington recalled the weapon over technical and ethical issues.

On the technical side, it took 16 hours to start and was not reliable in dusty and rainy weather conditions, reports Engadget, which warns that unless China addresses those issues that its Poly WB-1 would likely encounter also, the weapon would be of little use.

In case it would be able to fix those technical issues, Quartz warns would-be pro-democracy demonstrators like those in Hong Kong that Beijing may decide to use the pain gun on them too.

The microwave pain gun is one of the new inventions in China, which appears to be the innovation frontrunner now. According to Thomson Reuters, the number of invention patents in China have doubled in comparison to Japan and the U.S. since 2010, making Quartz asked the question "Could more weird and painful weaponry be on the way?"

Tagspain gun, Vietnam