China 'concerned' over Japan coastguard vessel colliding with Taiwan boat

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-17  |     ONLINE EDITION

CHINESE Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu today reiterated China's concern over the incident of a Japanese coastguard vessel collision with a Taiwan fishing boat in the East China Sea.

"The Chinese government expresses great concern over the Japanese coastguard vessel's collision with the Taiwan fishing boat which caused the latter to sink, and we have stated our position on the incident," said Jiang at a regular press conference.

She stressed that the Diaoyu islands have been part of Chinese territory since ancient times and China holds indisputable sovereignty over the Diaoyu islands.

"We demand the Japanese government to stop illegal activities around the Diaoyu Islands so as to prevent any incident of its kind from happening again," she said.

According to media reports, a fishing boat from China's Taiwan Province sank last Tuesday morning after colliding with a Japanese coastguard patrol boat about 9 km south of the Diaoyu Islands.