Taiwan drives away Chinese coast guard boat as frontline island tensions rise

TAIPEI — Taiwan on Tuesday (Feb 20) drove away a Chinese coast guard boat that entered waters near its sensitive frontline islands, in a rise in tensions a day after China's coast guard boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat that a Taiwan minister said has triggered "panic".

A Chinese coast guard boat, numbered 8029, entered Taiwan's waters near Kinmen on Tuesday morning, Taiwan's coast guard said, adding that it dispatched a boat and used radio and broadcast to drive away its Chinese counterpart, which left the area an hour later.

Taiwan's coast guard said it will continue to use radar, surveillance and patrols to ensure the "harmony and safety" near the waters of Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, which are close to China's shores.

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 last month's election of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing considers a dangerous separatist.

China announced on Sunday that its coast guard would begin regular patrols and set up law enforcement activity around the Kinmen islands, following the death of two Chinese nationals fleeing Taiwan's coast guard having entered into restricted waters too close to Kinmen.

Six Chinese coast guard officers on Monday boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat carrying 11 crew and 23 passengers to check its route plan, certificate and crew licences, leaving around half an hour later, Taiwan's coast guard said.

"We think it has harmed our people's feelings and triggered people's panic. That was also not in line with the interest of the people across the strait," Kuan Bi-ling, head of Taiwan's Ocean Affairs Council, told reporters on Tuesday.

China's coast guard,