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Taiwan protested to Japan Wednesday for the way it dealt with a tourist boat which had allegedly been illegally fishing in a disputed area of the East China Sea, officials here said.

Armed Japanese coastguards boarded the vessel on Monday, forcing their Taiwanese counterparts to intervene on behalf of the Taiwanese boat's skipper, crew and nine tourists.

But the Japanese coastguards confronted two of their counterparts from Taiwan, who were also armed, pushing them out onto the deck of the 49-tonne sports fishing boat.

The Japan coastguards arrested the skipper for being within Japan's exclusive economic zone and he and a crew member, along with their boat, have since been interned on a Japanese island.

The tourists onboard were returned to Taiwan, the local coastguard said.

Taiwan's foreign minister Timothy Yang told reporters he was unhappy with the high seas armed confrontation.

"The way the Japanese handled the matter is unacceptable although the event lasted only about one minute," Yang said.

Japan does not officially recognise Taiwan, which China regards part of its territory awaiting reunification.

cty/pst

Taiwan-Japan-politics-sea

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