Taiwan protests to Japan after activist boat \'barred\'

Taiwan protested to Japan on Thursday after it allegedly blocked a local fishing boat carrying anti-Japan protesters from sailing to a disputed island chain in the East China Sea. \"Diaoyu island is part of our territory and Japan has no right to interfere with our fishing boat\'s activities in our water,\" Taipei\'s foreign ministry said in a statement. The boat was forced to turn around on Wednesday after being confronted by Japanese patrol vessels near the group of islands, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China and Taiwan, according to Taiwan\'s coast guard. It was the latest of a series of incidents in recent years in which Japanese patrol craft have confronted Taiwanese activists trying to sail to the disputed area to press Taipei\'s claim. China, Japan and Taiwan all claim the island chain, which lies near rich energy deposits. Last year, Japan forced a Taiwanese protest boat to abort its mission amid a diplomatic row between Beijing and Tokyo after a Chinese trawler collided with two Japanese coastguard vessels. Tokyo officially recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, but maintains close trade ties with the island.