A fishing boat from China's Taiwan province sank early Tuesday morning after colliding with a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat, the Kyodo news agency reported.

All the 16 crew members aboard the boat Lienhe have been rescued by the patrol boat, said Kyodo, citing the coast guard.

The incident occurred some 9 km south of the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku in Japanese) around 3:20 A.M. local time when the patrol boat Koshiki detected the fishing boat Lienhe and tried to confirm its identity.

And about one hour later the fishing boat sank.

(Xinhua News Agency June 10, 2008)