Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Several Japanese Coast Guard ships fired water cannon and shouted warnings at a boat carrying Taiwanese activists who were attempting to land on islands disputed by Taiwan , Japan and China , a spokesman said . Through loud speakers , the Japanese Coast guard urged the activists and four Taiwanese Coast Guard vessels accompanying them , to retreat from waters around the islands , which are known as the Senkakus in Japan , and Diaoyu in China . The deterrent worked and the Taiwanese ships left the area , the Japanese Coast Guard said . According to state news agencies in Taiwan and China , the confrontation occurred about 28 nautical miles from the islands in the East China Sea . Several activists were aboard the main protest boat , Chinese news agency Xinhua said , adding that it was the third time since June 2008 that the ship had been involved in a confrontation with the Japanese Coast Guard . Why Asia is arguing over its islands . Once on the islands , the activists planned conduct ceremonies relating to Matsu , the `` Goddess of the Sea '' on the islands , according to the Li Yiqiang , secretary general of World Association for Protecting the Diaoyutais . The activists included Hsieh Mang-lin , chairman of the Chinese Association for Protecting the Diaoyutais . He told Taiwan 's Central News Agency ( CNA ) that they planned to erect a statue of Matsu on the island to help protect Taiwanese fisherman operating in the area . According to CNA , the Taiwanese fleet set out at 1.45 a.m. local time Thursday from Shenao in New Taipei and planned to return home the same afternoon . Disagreement over who owns the islands strained relations between Japan and China during the latter half of 2012 , and the dispute shows no signs of waning . Protests flared across China in September , soon after Japan announced it had bought the islands from private Japanese owners . The deal was struck in part to prevent the islands being bought by Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara who had called for donations for a public fund to buy them . China was outraged , as were protesters who marched through several Chinese cities calling for boycotts of Japanese products and urging the government to give the islands back . In December , the dispute escalated when Japan scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese plane was seen overhead . A number of Chinese ships have also entered contested waters despite warnings from the Japanese Coast Guard . China says its claim extends back hundreds of years . Japan says it saw no trace of Chinese control of the islands in an 1885 survey , so formally recognized them as Japanese sovereign territory in 1895 . Japan then sold the islands in 1932 to descendants of the original settlers . The Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945 only served to cloud the issue further . The islands were administered by the U.S. occupation force after the war . But in 1972 , Washington returned them to Japan as part of its withdrawal from Okinawa . CNN 's CY Xu and Xinlei Pan contributed to this report .
Chinese protest boat returning home after run-in with the Chinese Association for Protecting the Diaoyutais . Japan officers fired water cannon on the boat which entered disputed waters . Activists had planned to erect statue of sea goddess Senkakus on islands . The islands are disputed by China , China and China .