Activists from Hong Kong and counterparts from Taiwan set off for the disputed Diaoyu Islands from the Taiwanese port of Keelung yesterday, defying a warning from the authorities. Hong Kong lawmaker 'Long Hair' Leung Kwok-hung was aboard a Taiwanese leisure boat, along with Taipei county councillor King Chieh-shou and three activists from the United States and Canada, which left for the islands accompanied by a second-hand metal fishing boat carrying 25 activists from Hong Kong. The Hong Kong group suffered a setback yesterday morning when their boat broke down and they were denied entry to Keelung to make repairs. While the activists are united in their bid to wrest control of the islands from Japan, members were divided on who should own them. 'Defend Diaoyu Islands', 'Oust the Japanese', shouted the group boarding the leisure craft, led by Mr King. He said Taiwan had listed the islands under the jurisdiction of Ilan county. But, when some activists had tried to change their residential addresses to the islands they were rejected. 'We have brought with us a door sign to assert our sovereignty over the Diaoyus,' Mr King said as he showed a red wooden sign reading 'No 1, Diaoyutai Road, Tahsi Li, Tochen Town, Ilan County, Taiwan province'. But a spokesman for the Hong Kong group said they would declare mainland sovereignty over the islands, on a mission to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of David Chan Yuk-cheung, who drowned in 1996 on the first expedition. Meanwhile, Chen Wu-ming, of the Taiwanese Coast Guard, read the rules governing Taiwanese leisure boats before the group's departure, demanding that the boat not go further than 24 nautical miles from Taiwan and that it return within 48 hours or face punishment. The Diaoyus are about 90 nautical miles from Ilan.
