TAIPEI - TAIWAN announced on Saturday it was recalling its de facto envoy to Japan over Tokyo's handling of an incident in which a Taiwanese fishing boat sank after colliding with a Japanese patrol vessel.

The incident occurred early on Tuesday near uninhabited islands in the East China Sea known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese.

Japan administers the disputed chain, which lies near rich energy deposits, but it is also claimed by Taipei and Beijing.

'The foreign ministry finds Japan's report on the incident totally unacceptable.... The foreign ministry has decided to recall the representative to Japan,' said Foreign Minister Francisco Ou.

'The large Japanese patrol vessel rammed into the small Taiwanese fishing boat. We demand Japan apologise for this barbarous and inhumane move and compensate the loss,' Mr Ou added.

The Japan Coast Guard said on Saturday that its investigation found that both its vessel and the Taiwanese boat were 'cruising dangerously' in the area at the time of the incident.

The Coast Guard accepts the findings, but has no immediate plans to meet with the Taiwanese side or offer an apology, a Coast Guard spokesman said in Tokyo.

But Mr Ou said the government will help the captain of the fishing boat to seek compensation from Japan.

Captain Ho Hung-yi, who returned to Taiwan late on Friday after being held in Japan, said his boat was rammed by the Japanese vessel, which caused it to sink.

Since Tokyo recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, unofficial ties are handled by the head of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan.

All 16 people on board the Taiwanese vessel - 13 fishing enthusiasts and three crew - were taken to Ishigaki on Tuesday, an island in Japan's Okinawan chain south of the disputed territories.

Japan has claimed the island chain since 1895, but its dispute with China has intensified in recent years after potentially rich gas reserves were found nearby. -- AFP

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