Taiwanese minister defies Vietnam with visit to contested islet

Kuan was in the Spratly Islands to carry out what the coast guard said were environmental and humanitarian drills.

Zhongzhou and Itu Aba are also claimed by China and Vietnam.

Kuan said Vietnam had complained about her trip, the first time in seven years a Taiwanese minister has visited Taiwan's holdings in the Spratly Islands, but that its protest, "has not been notably more forceful than usual."

"Our exercise has not caused, nor will it cause, any regional tension," she said in her social media post.