Now Taiwan is also claiming the Sekakus

50 Taiwanese boats intrude near Senkakus

Coast guard cutters deploy water cannons

Japan Times,

26 September, 2012

About 40 Taiwanese fishing boats and 12 patrol ships intruded into Japanese territorial waters near the Senkaku Islands on Tuesday morning to assert Taipei's claim to the Japan-controlled chain.

The armada further intensified the territorial dispute that has already seen ties between Japan and China deteriorate.

It was the first time such a large number of foreign vessels has intruded into the territorial waters since the diplomatic row over Japan and China broke out last month.

The Taiwanese fishing ships started entering waters near the islands around 7:40 a.m., and had left the area by midday, according to Japan Coast Guard officials.

The coast guard repeatedly sought to prevent the Taiwanese ships from approaching the islets by spraying water over them.

But the accompanying Taiwanese patrol ships responded to the warnings by announcing that it is their right to operate in Taiwanese territorial waters, according to the Japan Coast Guard.

There were no major clashes between the Japanese and Taiwanese maritime authorities, but officials confirmed that three Taiwanese patrol ships had fired their water cannons at the Japanese patrol boats.

"We'd like to do our best to conduct vigilance and monitoring activities," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said during a morning news conference.

Fujimura called for calm diplomatic reactions by both sides.

"(The issue) should be solved through a good Japan-Taiwan relationship. We'd like to respond in a level-headed manner," he said.

Taiwanese fishermen were reportedly concerned that their territorial claim has been overshadowed by the recent diplomatic wrangling between Beijing and Tokyo over the disputed islets.

On Tuesday in Beijing, Vice Foreign Minister Chikao Kawai met with his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, for the first time since the nationalization was carried out to explain Tokyo's position on the issue.

The Taiwanese fishing boats carried banners saying they will defend Tiaoyutai, as the islands are known in Taiwan. In China they are called Diaoyu."Usually as many as 50 boats won't fish in one area at one time. It's clear they came intentionally to claim territorial rights over the islands," said Yasumasa Higa, 55, a fisherman from Ishigaki Island in Okinawa Prefecture.

The Taiwanese fishing boats left the port of Suao in northeast Taiwan for the Senkakus on Monday evening to protest against the nationalization issue and to assert their claims to fishing rights around the islets.

Around 6 a.m. Tuesday, Japan Coast Guard patrols spotted 50 Taiwanese fishing boats accompanied by 12 patrol vessels in the contiguous waters near the Senkakus.

According to the coast guard, the Taiwanese fishing boats changed direction around 10 a.m. and all of the fishing boats and the patrol ships left the territorial waters just before midday.

As Japan and Taiwan lack diplomatic relations, the Japanese government will lodge a protest against the Taiwanese action as a breach of the international law through the Interchange Association, Japan's de facto diplomatic office in Taipei, the coast guard said. The association, a body affiliated with the Japanese government, serves as the diplomatic contact point between Japan and Taiwan.

The standoff between Japan and China over the islets has developed into a major diplomatic issue between the world's second- and third-largest economies.

Numerous Chinese surveillance ships have entered maritime areas around the islets since last week, and some of them intruded into Japanese territorial waters.

At 9 a.m. Tuesday, four marine survey ships and two fishery monitoring ships belonging to China were cruising in the contiguous zone outside of Japanese territorial waters.

While Japan and China were set to mark the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries this week, the ceremony to commemorate the anniversary has been canceled.

Now Taiwan Is Also Claiming The Senkaku Islands: 70 Fishing Boats Set Sail To Stake Claim

Zero Hedge,

24 September, 2012

If you thought it was complicated when "only" China and Japan were disputing the recent escalation in property rights over who owns those three particular rock in the East China Sea, to be henceforth called the Senkaku Islands for simplicity's sake because things are about to get far more confusing, here comes Taiwan, aka the Republic of China, not to be confused with the People's Republic of China for the simple reason that the latter officially asserts itself to be the sole legal representation of China and actively claims Taiwan to be under its sovereignty, denying the status and existence of ROC as a sovereign state (yet one which benefits from US backing), to also stake its claim over the disputed Senkaku Islands. It has done so in a very confusing manner: by replicating what it thinks China did some days ago when an "armada" of 1000 fishing boats set sail in an unknown direction and which the trigger happy media immediately assumed was in direction Senkaku. It subsequently turned out that this was not the case and as we reported, "China's fishing season stops every year in June-September in the East China Sea, where the islands are located. This year, the ban was lifted on Sunday." In short the (PR)China fishing boat amrada was not headed toward the Senkakus. Taiwan however did not get the memo, and as NKH reports, "several dozen Taiwanese fishing boats have set sail for the disputed Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, to claim access to their fishing grounds."

So to summarize: a country which (PR)China claims does not exist and is under its own sovereign control, has replicated what it thought was (PR)China's strategic move to reclaim the Senkaku Islands (which was nothing of the sort), and is sending its own fishing boat armada to reclaim islands whose ownership has sent Japan and (PR)China on the verge of more than mere diplomatic warfare. The only thing that could make this any more confusing is if someone discovered title deeds ceding ownership of the Senkakus to Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China at the same time, and signed by Linda Green.

From NHK:

More than 70 boats from a fishing cooperative in northeastern Taiwan set out Monday afternoon, hoisting banners claiming that the islands belong to Taiwan, and that Taiwan's sovereignty and fishing rights must be protected.

The cooperative is protesting Japan's purchase of 3 of the islands in the Senkaku chain from a private owner earlier this month. The cooperative says the waters surrounding the islands have long been a major Taiwanese fishing ground.

The cooperative says the boats will be joined by vessels from other cooperatives along the way to the islands.

The fleet plans to arrive at a point about 40 kilometers southwest of the islands by early Tuesday morning.

The boats are to circle near the islands after forming into groups of 5, with the aim of entering Japanese territorial waters.

More than 10 Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels will be on hand to monitor the fishing fleet's activities.

So who's next in order of territorial claims - Argentina?

In short- utter confusion which can only mean one thing - sit beck and enjoy.

It's popcorn time.