Taiwan’s maritime authorities reported Saturday that Chinese vessels conducted what they described as the first joint operation designed to challenge Taiwan’s control of remote islands in the South China Sea.
According to Taiwan’s coast guard, a Chinese coast guard vessel and an oceanographic research ship worked together near the Pratas Islands, which Taiwan controls as a national park in the northern South China Sea. The lightly defended islands have become a new focal point in China’s expanding military and quasi-military activities around Taiwan as Beijing seeks to reinforce its territorial claims.
Security analysts view these islands as particularly exposed to potential Chinese action because they sit more than 400 kilometers (250 miles) from Taiwan’s main island, positioned between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Taiwan’s coast guard reported that after a Chinese coast guard vessel approached the Pratas on Friday, a Chinese oceanographic survey ship moved toward the islands on Saturday.
“This is the first observed instance of Chinese coast guard and survey vessels acting in coordination to provoke Taiwan,” the coast guard stated.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office had not responded to requests for comment at the time of the report. Beijing views both Taiwan and the uninhabited Pratas atoll as Chinese territory, while Taiwan’s government disputes these claims, maintaining that only the island’s residents should determine their political future.
“These acts are highly provocative. The PRC is a sick bully, causing trouble across the region,” Taiwan National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu posted on his X account, sharing a map that tracked both vessels’ movements.
The Chinese coast guard ship transmitted messages stating it was performing law enforcement duties and declaring that “Taiwan’s future lies in national reunification,” according to Taiwan’s coast guard, which sent its own ships to respond.
Taiwan’s vessel responded by broadcasting: “Stop undermining peace. You should return and pursue democracy — that is the proper way to serve your country.”
Taiwan’s coast guard accused China of attempting to establish a “false illusion” of authority over the waters, declaring that “Taiwan’s maritime sovereignty brooks no provocation.”
