ACTIVISTS WALK OUT OF THE PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE IN TAIPEI, 1997-05-22 (photo)

Taiwanese activists walk out of the Presidential Office in Taipei May 22 after sending a petition to the president asking him to uphold Taiwan's sovereignty over Diaoyu or Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, and to refrain from visiting Japan as long as the dispute remained unresolved. The small island chain in the East China Sea is claimed by Taiwan, Japan and China. A 1996 erection of a lighthouse on one of the islands, and the May landing on the island by a Japanese diet member triggered uproar from ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong, the United States and Taiwan. TAIWAN