This year's expedition - which at one stage was at risk of being canceled due to lack of funds - marked the 10th anniversary of the first expedition in 1996, when a fleet of ships landed on the uninhabited islands in protest against Japan's claim to sovereignty.

It also commemorates the death of Hong Kong activist David Chan Yuk- cheung, who drowned while trying to land on the first expedition.

It is the first expedition from Hong Kong since 1998 when the vessel Bao Diao II was damaged in an incident with Japanese vessels as it again tried to land on the disputed islands. This year, Bao Diao II began its journey from Shau Kei Wan Sunday, sailing into Victoria Harbour where well-wishers chanted, blew whistles and waved good-bye to the vessel from the Tsim Sha Tsui piers.

Democratic Party vice chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan said the islands represented Japan's failing in its "post- war obligations" and that they were not only protesting against sovereignty, but also against visits to the Yasukuni shrine, distortions of history and Japan's failure to issue a formal apology for its military past.

Ku Kawi-yiu, an Eastern district councillor and member of the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands, which organized the expedition, said the ship "represents the heart of all Chinese."

The 22-man crew includes 18 Hong Kong citizens, one Canadian, one Australian, one from the mainland and one from Macau.

They are expected to approach the islands Wednesday evening, depending on the weather, Ku said.

Legislator Leung Kwok-hung is part of a crew on another vessel which set sail from Taiwan.

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Noriyuki Shikata has emphasized that it considers the islands to be Japanese territory according to international law, and is aware of the activists' intentions.

He said the Japanese government "will try to expel in an appropriate way those activists who try to enter the islands or its surrounding waters, under Japanese domestic law."

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry in Beijing urged Japan Sunday not to jeopardize the safety of the activists.

Ho emphasized the crew has undergone training, and that more than half of them had been on such an expedition before. He said all the activists will act according to the "guiding principles" of being peaceful, orderly and exercising self-restraint. Jet skis, motorboats and scuba-diving gear have been taken along to facilitate a possible landing, but these will only be used if the situation is safe, Ho said.

A three-man command team, which includes veteran activist Tsang Kin- shing, has been set up to ensure there are no rash moves. A director's post has also been set up in Tsim Sha Tsui to monitor the journey and provide information to the public.

This year's expedition was originally scheduled for August, when there would have been less risk of choppy seas, with more than 40 people and two Hong Kong vessels.

However, the lack of funds and the cancellation of a fund-raising concert meant the expedition was postponed and almost canceled. A further inspection of the Bao Diao II also revealed it was unsuitable for too many people.

Ho, originally marked as the chief commander for the expedition, had to pull out because of family matters, he said. He is now part of the fund-raising team.

The whole operation is expected to cost up to HK$3 million, and the committee is still looking for ways to raise close to another million. Ho and political commentator Wong Yuk-man Sunday gave speeches in Tsim Sha Tsui, encouraging donations or purchases of T-shirts, caps and pins.

Both speakers contrasted the way Germany has faced up to its past and Japan's relative lack of transparency of suspected war crimes.

The Diaoyu islands were ceded to Japan as part of Taiwan and its "outlying islands" in 1895 according to the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the Chinese were defeated in the First Sino- Japanese War. The Chinese now claim that treaty "unequal" and void. The islands are currently administered by Japan as a part of Ishigaki City, Okinawa prefecture.

In 1968, a survey suggested the Diaoyu islands' waters could be rich in oil, although there has been no systematic search for oil.

Despite improving diplomatic relations because of trade, the Diaoyu territorial dispute, along with the war shrine visits and approval of Japanese textbooks allegedly glossing over its past military aggression, are still topics which cause diplomatic tensions between China and Japan as well as outbursts of nationalistic fervor among their citizens.

The islands are referred to as Senkaku islands in Japan, which in April approved textbooks showing it has sovereignty over the islands.