Ten Japanese warships and a plane attacked two Chinese fishing
boats using water cannons Thursday night at areas off Chinese
Diaoyu Islands, injuring one Chinese boatman, a Chinese activist
told Xinhua.
Two fishing boats carrying 20 people from two Chinese companies
and a non-governmental group were attacked about 10 nautical miles
off the islands at about 7:00 p.m. Thursday (Beijing Time), said Li
Nan, who is on the Chinese mainland and in charge of logistics and
coordination for an inspection tour of sea areas off the
islands.
Under the attack by high-pressure water cannons, the glass of
the control cabin of a boat burst into pieces, leaving the face and
hand of one boatman injured by broken pieces of glass, Li told
Xinhua.
About 50 minutes later, Chinese activists aboard the boats
released a monument with an inscription that says "Chinese
territory Diaoyu Islands" into the sea area, Li quoted a message
sent from the boats through a radio.
Li said he lost contact with the two boats since then, as their
radio contact was probably jammed by the Japanese.
Li said that four Japanese warships and a plane appeared near
the two Chinese fishing boats sailing in the direction of Diaoyu
Islands at about 3:00 p.m. Thursday as they were about 30 nautical
miles off the islands.
Two hours later, as the boats were about 20 nautical miles off
the islands, the number of Japanese warships approaching the boats
increased to 10, including five in front of the Chinese boats and
another five behind and three planes above, said Li.
They followed the boats and did not attempt to intercept until
7:00 p.m. when the Chinese boats were about 10 nautical miles from
the island.
The two boats left Xiamen in east China's Fujian Province at
10:00 p.m. Tuesday to inspect tourism resources in the sea areas
off the islands. They were scheduled to reach their destination on
the morning of Jan. 16 and return on Jan. 18, organizers said
Wednesday.
Located off the northeast of Keelung of Taiwan, Diaoyu Islands
have been part of Chinese territory since ancient times and an
important fishing area for fishermen from the southeast part of the
Chinese mainland and Taiwan.
(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2004)