JAPANESE coastguards have boosted their presence at the disputed Diaoyu Islands, reports said yesterday, with up to five boats on hand to block television crews trying to land on the archipelago.
More than 25 journalists from Hong Kong and Taiwan were barred from the islands - claimed by China, Taiwan and Japan - after an hour-long confrontation with five armed Japanese vessels.
Previously, it was believed just three gunboats were stationed at the islands, where Japan has provoked mainland fury by erecting a lighthouse.
Officers on board reiterated in Japanese, English and Mandarin that the islands were Japanese territory and threatened to detain reporters if they did not leave.
Taipei, insisting the islands were Taiwan's, yesterday urged a peaceful solution to the dispute. 'It is impossible to achieve an accord in a short time that everyone can accept,' said Vice-Foreign Minister Chen Chien-jen . 'But it is indisputable that the Diaoyu archipelago is part of our territory.' While China had little to say on the dispute yesterday, anti-Japanese sentiment continued to run high in Hong Kong, where there was another series of demonstrations and signature campaigns.
The pro-Taiwan 123 Democratic Alliance launched a campaign outside Japanese department stores in Causeway Bay urging shoppers to boycott them.
