Taiwan said on Saturday that a Chinese 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, a national park toward the northern end of the South China Sea and lightly defended by the coast guard, have emerged as a new pressure point in China's ongoing military and quasi-military operations around Taiwan in an effort to assert Beijing's sovereignty claims.
