The Taiwanese activists who were involved in a confrontation with the Japanese Coast Guard near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are demanding that the Japanese government compensate them for damages to their fishing boat and for emotional distress.
The five activists, led by Chinese Association for Protecting the Diaoyutais executive director Hsi-lin Huang , are asking for $169,000 for the losses from the destruction of the fishing boat, as well as reparations for the “mental distress” that they suffered from the incident. They say that the actions of the coast guard severely damaged the boat’s engine. Huang led a protest outside the building housing the Interchange Association, Japan and appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to bring up this issue with the Japanese government. Huang also criticized President Ma Ying-jeou for reiterating that the Taiwanese government will not collaborate with China in asserting sovereignty over the islands.
Earlier this week, the activists also filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. They also accused the commander of the Japanese Coast Guard of attempted murder. The incident in question happened last January 24, when Huang and six other activists boarded the fishing boat Quanjiafu and attempted to reach the islands. The Taiwanese Coast Guard Administration sent four vessels to protect the activists. They alleged that eight Japanese Coast Guard vessels blocked the boat by tactics like zigzagging, creating wash and even discharging black smoke and firing water cannons at their boat.
[ via Taipei Times ]