Activists supporting Chinese sovereignty over the disputed Senkaku Islands and surrounding waters said Saturday that protesters in China will set out Sunday from Xiamen on a voyage to the area and that Taiwan-based protesters will also set out within days.
Huang Hsi-lin, chief executive of the Taiwan-based Chinese Tiaoyutai Defense Association, told reporters at a conference in Chungho, Taipei county, that a number of fishing vessels are scheduled to set out from Xiamen and that, sea conditions permitting, Taiwanese activists will set out as early as Sunday.
The disputed islands are known as the Senkaku in Japan, the Diaoyu in China and the Tiaoyutai in Taiwan.
Details of the Taiwan-based protest, such as ports of departure and number of boats and onboard activists, are being withheld to avoid intervention by the authorities, whom activists complain have cracked down on their activities in recent years.