Near Disputed Islands, Japan Confronts Boats From Taiwan Yomiuri Shimbun, via Agence France-Presse - Getty Images A Japanese Coast Guard vessel in the East China Sea, right, sprayed water against Taiwanese fishing boats on Tuesday, while a Taiwanese Coast Guard ship, left, also sprayed water. TOKYO - The Japanese Coast Guard used water cannons on Tuesday to disperse fishing boats from Taiwan in waters claimed by Japan in the East China Sea, widening a territorial dispute that has already pitted Japan against China and threatened vital trade relations in the region. Japan's top government spokesman, Osamu Fujimura, said Tokyo had lodged a protest with Taiwan's government over the fishing boats" intrusion into waters around a chain of small, rocky islands claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan, called the Senkaku islands in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China. Japanese ships have also confronted fishing boats from mainland China in the area in recent days. The islands are uninhabited, but the waters around them are coveted fishing grounds and may have large gas reserves. The status of the islands touches on historical grievances in East Asia dating from World War II and before. Taiwan's government generally maintains friendly relations with Japan, and has not been very vocal about its claim to the islands. Even so, activists in Taiwan have raised their voices about the issue as mainland Chinese activists have done. Scenes of a Japanese Coast Guard vessel blasting water at a Taiwanese fishing boat were televised by NHK, the Japanese public broadcaster. Another Taiwanese boat was seen trying to spray water back. The Coast Guard said that more than 40 Taiwanese fishing boats and eight Taiwanese patrol craft briefly approached the disputed islands, but had since departed. The dispute erupted earlier this year when the governor of Tokyo, a well-known nationalist, announced that he wanted to buy three of the islands from their owner, a Japanese citizen. He said he believed that Japan's central government was not doing enough to defend them. The uproar that followed prompted the Japanese central government to step in and buy the islands itself. Officials said that was done to keep them from falling into more provocative hands, but the move was seen in China as an effort to assert Japanese control. Angry demonstrations broke out, and some Chinese protesters attacked Japanese businesses. The foreign ministers of Japan and China met in Beijing on Tuesday to talk about ways to settle the dispute, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry said no substantive progress was made. Jane Perlez contributed reporting from Beijing.