The boarding of a Taiwanese tourist boat by China's coast guard near sensitive front-line islands triggered "panic" among Taiwan's people, a government minister said on Tuesday, but Taiwan's military added it was not planning to get involved.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island's rejection, has been wary of efforts by Beijing to ramp up pressure on Taipei following the election last month of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing views as a dangerous separatist.
China announced on Sunday that its coast guard would begin regular patrols and set up law enforcement activity around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, following the death of two Chinese nationals fleeing Taiwan's coast guard having entered into restricted waters too close to Kinmen.