Taiwan’s new government took a tough stance against Japan at the weekend in a spat over a ship collision that occurred last week in disputed waters, straining relations with what has so far been Taipei’s most valued unofficial ally in Asia.

The island’s Foreign Ministry recalled its representative from Tokyo and said it would dissolve a semi-official body in charge of ties with Japan. The moves escalated the controversy surrounding the June 10 sinking of a Taiwanese leisure fishing boat close to the Diaoyutai islands – known in Japan as the Senkaku – after it collided with a Japanese coast guard vessel.