About 50 fishing boats from Taiwan, protected by coastguard patrols, sailed north on Thursday to challenge Japan's claim over rich fishing grounds surrounding a disputed group of islands in the East China Sea. Japan sent helicopters to monitor the protest in waters south of Okinawa. A spokesman for the Japanese coastguard said it would stop the Taiwan fishermen if they tried to enter Japanese waters. Taiwan fishermen said Japanese patrol boats had recently driven them away from the area, over which China, Taiwan and Japan all claim sovereignty. They said those who refused to leave were detained and only released after they paid fines. "We have been bullied by Japan for a long time. We can't take it any more," the leader of the Taiwan protest, Lin Yuan-ying, told Reuters by telephone. Lin is director-general of the Suao Fishermen's Association. Taiwan television footage showed protesters hanging banners from their ships that read "Respect fishermen's rights to survive", and raising their fists and shouting slogans when a Japanese helicopter flew overhead. Taiwan's coastguard followed the ships to make sure the dispute did not escalate into a diplomatic row. There were no Japanese patrol boats in sight, fishermen said. --More 1155 Local Time 0855 GMT
