Taiwanese fishing boats on way back after Diaoyutai protest
ROC Central News Agency
2012/09/25 15:06:19
Diaoyutai Islands, Sept. 25 (CNA) Taiwanese fishing boats began returning home late Tuesday morning after sailing to the Diaoyutai Islands to stand up for Taiwan's sovereignty over the small island chain in the East China Sea.
The fishing boats came as close as 3 nautical miles to the Diaoyutais but were thwarted from making a possible landing by Japanese Coast Guard vessels, which forcefully deterred the protesters from approaching further.
Lin Jih-cheng, commander of an organizing committee on safeguarding fishing rights, said the ships were able to sail near the Diaoyutais and achieved the aim of the protest journey.
Considering the rough sea conditions, Lin announced at 9 a.m. that "the mission is completed, and all fishing boats will return to Nanfangao."
Patrol vessels with Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) remained about 4 nautical miles from the Diaoyutai Islands to see that all fishing boats left the area safely.
The 75 Taiwanese fishing boats, carrying banners reading "Defend our Territorial Waters" and "Diaoyutais is Ours," set off from the fishing port of Nanfangao in Yilan County Monday to protest Japan's recent move to nationalize the islands by buying three of them from their private owner.
The Diaoyutais, about 100 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, are administratively controlled by Japan but also claimed by Taiwan and China, and the fishermen wanted to assert Taiwan's sovereignty over the islands and their right to operate in their traditional fishing ground.
They arrived at waters near the Diaoyutais at around 5 a.m. Tuesday after sailing overnight escorted by Coast Guard ships.
The fishing boats assembled at 18 nautical miles off the Diaoyutais to prepare for their planned circling of the island group in groups of five ships each.
Their approach led to a standoff between the Taiwanese Coast Guard ships and their Japanese counterparts.
More than 10 Japanese patrol boats used flashlights and water cannons to disperse Taiwanese fishing ships, warning them over loudspeakers to leave.
At one point, they also dropped smaller boats into the water and tried ramming them into the fishing boats.
Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels responded by firing water cannons and using loudspeakers and LED lights to say, "This is Taiwan's territorial waters. You should not interfere with the operations of our fishermen."
Taiwanese Coast Guard ships sailed to waters between Taiwanese fishing boats and Japanese patrol boats, at one point stopping in front of the Japanese vessels to allow the fishing boats to maneuver in the waters.
The CGA said Tuesday that it proceeded based on the principles of not allowing Japanese ships to board the Taiwanese fishing boats and not allowing Japanese officers to take fishermen into custody.
Deputy CGA head Wang Chung-yi said his agency had simulated possible scenarios beforehand for Tuesday's encounter and expected Japan to send large vessels to the site.
"Japan mobilized 21 ships, with the largest weighing 6,000 tons." Wang said.
He said that due to the rough sea conditions around the Diaoyutais, with waves running as high as four meters, the Coast Guard did not take more aggressive action, out of consideration for the fishing boats.
He also said the Coast Guard did not encounter Chinese fishing boats during its escort mission, but noted that there were five Chinese patrol ships around the island chain, all outside the 12-nautical-mile territorial zone.
The Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday that the Navy dispatched one Cheng Kung and two Chi Yang class frigates in waters off the coast of northeastern Taiwan in support of the Taiwanese fishing boats.
Several sorties of F-16 and Mirage 2000 fighters also monitored the situation while conducting routine reconnaissance missions.
The island chain has been a traditional fishing ground of Taiwanese fishermen for several decades, but they have been harassed and chased away by Japanese Coast Guard ships in recent years.
Taiwan and Japan have held 16 rounds of fishery talks to try to solve the dispute, to no avail.
(By Worthy Shen and Lilian Wu)
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