Taiwan has dispatched two patrol ships to protect Taiwanese fishing boats operating near a Japanese atoll after Japan's seizure of one such boat last month.

The patrol boats from Taiwan's coast guard and fishery authorities, set off at 11 a.m. on Sunday from Kaohsiung Port in southern Taiwan, for a one-month mission. They will reach the targeted international waters in three to five days.

A Taiwanese fishing boat was chased and seized by a Japanese vessel on April 25 as it was sailing at 138.38 degrees east longitude and 19.47 degrees north latitude. Japan released the boat and crew after its owner paid a deposit of about 6 million Japanese yen (54,400 U.S. dollars) as demanded by Japan.

Taiwan protested the incident, saying that Japan has no right to claim a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. Taiwanese leader Ma Ying-jeou vowed to safeguard fishermen's rights.

Hundreds of Taiwanese fishing boats operate near the atoll, according to fishery authorities in the Chinese region.

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