TAIPEI: China's aviation regulator said on Friday (Apr 19) it had opened new air routes to the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Fuzhou, routes which are situated very close to the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen and Matsu, a move likely to anger Taipei.

Taiwan expressed anger in January after China "unilaterally" changed a flight path called M503 close to the sensitive median line in the Taiwan Strait. The new routes to Xiamen and Fuzhou connect to the M503 flight route.