TAIWAN PROTEST SHIP ENTERS JAPAN WATERS NEAR DISPUTED ISLETS

Tokyo, June 16 (Jiji Press)--A protest ship and nine patrol boats from Taiwan on Monday entered Japanese territorial waters near disputed islets in the East China Sea.

The intrusion into Japanese territorial waters is regrettable, Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said at a news conference.

At around 3:50 a.m. (6:50 p.m. Sunday GMT), a Japanese patrol boat spotted the protest ship about 76 kilometers west-southwest of Uotsuri Island in the disputed Senkaku chain claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan, sailing toward the island.

The protest ship later entered Japanese territorial waters,
together with the nine Taiwanese patrol boats that were staying nearby.

Following a warning by the Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, the Taiwanese protest ship and patrol boats left Japanese waters past 8:30 a.m.

According to the Japan Coast Guard, a Taiwanese patrol ship
followed a protest ship to enter Japanese territorial waters near the
Senkaku chain for the first time ever.

The protest ship left Taipei Sunday evening in order to protest against an accident last week that wrecked a Taiwanese leisure fishing boat in the wake of a collision with a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat near Uotsuri Island.

The protest ship displayed a banner that reads Japan should leave the Senkaku chain.