A boat with Taiwanese activists headed for disputed Japanese-controlled islands turned back Thursday after coastguard vessels from the two sides converged and duelled with water cannon. <\/p>\n
The boat, carrying seven people including four Taiwanese activists, gave up a plan to land on the East China Sea islands after being blocked by Japanese coastguard vessels as it sailed within 17 nautical miles of the archipelago. <\/p>\n
\"We fired water cannon at each other,\" Taiwanese coastguard spokesman Shih Yi-che said of the confrontation. <\/p>\n
The disputed islands, in an area where the seabed is believed to harbour valuable mineral reserves, are known as Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese. Both China and Taiwan claim them. <\/p>\n
As the standoff unfolded, three Chinese surveillance vessels were positioned a few nautical miles off, the Taiwanese coastguard said. <\/p>\n
It added that it was the first time ships from China had been spotted near a Taiwanese-Japanese incident, and that it had sent a radio message to the three boats to keep their distance in order not to complicate matters. <\/p>\n
The incident came at a time of growing regional concern over the intensified friction over the islands between China and Japan, with both Beijing and Tokyo recently scrambling fighter jets to assert their claims to the area. <\/p>\n
The Japanese coastguard confirmed that it took action after encountering the Taiwanese vessel. <\/p>\n
\"Our patrol boat carried out restrictions on the vessel such as blocking its path and discharging water,\" it said in a statement. <\/p>\n
\"The vessel left our country's contiguous zone at around 1:30 pm (0430 GMT) and continued sailing west-southwest away from the Senkakus.\" <\/p>\n
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Taiwan boat leaves islands after Japan water cannon duel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A boat with Taiwanese activists headed for disputed Japanese-controlled islands turned back Thursday after coastguard vessels from the two sides converged and duelled with water cannon. The boat, carrying seven people including four Taiwanese activists, gave up a plan to land on the East China Sea islands after being blocked by Japanese coastguard vessels as it sailed within 17 nautical miles of the archipelago. Continue reading