Taiwanese boats enter Japanese waters to protest ship collision (Roundup)

Jun 16, 2008, 7:36 GMT

Tokyo - Ten Taiwanese ships entered Japanese territorial waters in the East China Sea Monday near Diaoyu Islands to protest Japan's handling of a ship collision last week.

The Japanese coast guard warned the Taiwanese vessels with 12 activists and 30 journalists onboard to leave the area, while patrol boats were sent to monitor the ships.

The Taiwanese boats sailed within 0.4 nautical miles of the Diaoyu Islands, and left the waters a few hours later, after the protesters shouted anti-Japanese slogans like 'Japan Get Out of the Diaoyu Islands!'

The flotilla of the protest boats returned to the Shen'ao Wharf, on the northeastern tip of Taiwan, Monday afternoon.

The sea protest came after a Japanese coast guard vessel sank a Taiwanese boat near the Diaoyus on Tuesday.

Thirteen Taiwan fishermen and three crew were rescued from the sea by the Japanese crew.

The Japanese side claimed the boat intruded into its territorial waters, but the boat captain stressed the boat was on innocent passage.

The Japan Coast Guard filed papers on the captain of the sunken Taiwanese ship and the Japanese captain of the patrol vessel Saturday to Japanese public prosecutors on suspicion of professional negligence.

Taiwan Friday recalled its de facto ambassador to Tokyo to protest against Japan's handling of incident after Tokyo refused to apologize and compensate for the captain's loss. Taiwan does not have official ties with Japan.

On Monday, Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration said it is seeking government approval to build more patrol ships to guard Taiwan's territorial waters.

Taiwan plans to send a Lafayette-class frigate on Wednesday to carry lawmakers to the Diaoyu Islands to assert Taiwan's sovereignty claims over the islets, but it is not clear if the warship will enter the 12-nautical-mile economic zone claimed by Japan.

Japan, Taiwan and China claim the islets and their surrounding waters, which are rich in fishery resources and potential natural gas deposits.