SUAO: Dozens of Taiwanese fishing boats yesterday set sail for disputed East China Sea islands that are also claimed by China and Japan and have sent tensions between the two Asian powers soaring.
Taiwan’s coastguard sent out at least 10 patrol boats alongside the more than 60 fishing vessels, with some of the patrol ships carrying fully armed elite coastguard personnel.
“We’ll do everything to protect our fishermen. We do not rule out using force to fight back if Japan were to do so,” Wang Chin-wang, head of the Coast Guard Administration, said in parliament.
The fishermen aim to highlight Taiwan’s claim over the uninhabited islands -- known as Diaoyu in China but Senkaku in Japan -- which lie 400km from the Okinawan capital of Naha and 200 kilometres from Taiwan.
The islands, which are administered by Japan, lie on vital shipping lanes and are believed to be located near potentially rich gas fields.
The 61 fishing boats flying Taiwan flags and brandishing demonstration signs left Suao, a port in northeast Taiwan, at 0700 GMT.
The 300 fishermen and 60 reporters aboard are expected to arrive around dawn today.
Once there, the vessels plan to sail inside Japan’s 12-nautical-mile territorial zone surrounding the islands.
The boats carried signs written in Chinese characters reading “Diaoyutai belongs to Taiwan”.
AFP
