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By Ben Blanchard / Reuters
Taiwan yesterday said that a China Coast Guard ship and a survey ship had carried out the first coordinated operation to “provoke” Taiwan, in waters around strategically located islands in the South China Sea.
The Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島), a national park toward the northern end of the South China Sea and lightly defended by the Coast Guard Administration (CGA), have emerged as a new pressure point in China’s ongoing military and quasi-military operations around Taiwan.
The islands between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than 400km — from Taiwan proper.
Photo courtesy of the CGA
The CGA said in a statement that along with a China Coast Guard ship that had approached the Pratas Islands on Friday, a Chinese oceanographic survey vessel approached the islands yesterday.
“This is the first observed instance of Chinese coast guard and survey vessels acting in coordination to provoke Taiwan,” it said.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“These acts are highly provocative. The PRC is a sick bully, causing trouble across the region,” National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) wrote on X, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
The post included a map showing the track of the two Chinese ships.
The China Coast Guard vessel broadcast that it was conducting law enforcement operations and that “Taiwan’s future lies in national reunification,” said the Coast Guard Administration, which dispatched its own vessels in response.
The CGA ship broadcast back: “Stop undermining peace. You should return and pursue democracy — that is the proper way to serve your country.”
China is trying to create a “false illusion” of jurisdiction over the area, the CGA said. “Taiwan’s maritime sovereignty brooks no provocation.”
The China Coast Guard vessel 3501 left the restricted waters at about 6pm yesterday, ending a 34-hour standoff between the two sides, it said.
As for the Chinese survey ship, CGA vessels were still working to expel it, the agency said shortly before press time last night.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chun-fu