Taiwan says Chinese coast guard, research ships near key S. China Sea islands

TAIPEI, June 6 (Reuters) - 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.

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 400 km (250 ⁠miles) - from Taiwan island.

Taiwan's coast guard said in a statement that along ⁠with a Chinese coast guard ship that had approached the Pratas on Friday, a Chinese oceanographic survey vessel approached the islands on Saturday.

"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. China considers Taiwan and ⁠the Pratas, an atoll with no civilian population, as its ‌territory. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's claims, saying only the ​island's people can decide their 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 ‌wrote on his X account, and included a map showing ​the track of the two ships.

PRC ⁠refers to the People's Republic of China.

The Chinese coast guard vessel broadcast ‌that it was conducting law enforcement operations and ⁠that "Taiwan's future lies in national reunification", said Taiwan's coast guard, which dispatched its own vessels in response.

It said the Taiwan 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 coast guard said. "Taiwan's maritime sovereignty ​brooks no provocation."

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Ryan Woo in Beijing; ​Editing by William Mallard and Kim Coghill)