Post by Flash on May 8, 2008 17:00:36 GMT -5
Whaling action against Japan still possible
Australia and New Zealand have denied ditching the possibility of legal action to stop Japanese whaling.
Rejecting a report that New Zealand had abandoned the legal route to stop the annual Southern Ocean cull of almost 1000 whales, the countries said it remained an option, although a diplomatic solution remained the preferred course of action.
The New Zealand Conservation Minister, Steve Chadwick, said New Zealand had "examined legal options for taking a case against Japan with great care".
"In the past we have identified obstacles to legal action. That said, New Zealand continues to be open minded about the possibility of taking a case against Japanese whaling," Ms Chadwick said.
On a visit to Tokyo yesterday, the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said the Government would continue to build a case to take Japan to the International Court of Justice in The Hague over its research whaling program.
But he re-affirmed an undertaking he gave the Japanese Foreign Minister, Masahiko Koumura, that Australia would not "announce or initiate or undertake legal action without letting the Japanese government know that that's the conclusion we've come to".
A Japanese government official said that "a decision to drop this case would be in the interests of all countries involved. It's a groundless case."
The $1 million legal campaign to gather evidence against Japan's scientific whaling program generated considerable friction between the two nations during Japan's annual hunt.
In February footage captured by Australian customs vessel Oceanic Viking, which trailed the Japanese whaling fleet for several weeks, challenged Japan's claims that its whaling methods were humane and efficient.
The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, stirred resentment in Tokyo when he said he felt sick at seeing photographs of the "indiscriminate killing" of a mother minke whale and its calf.
In response, the director general of the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, Minoru Morimoto, said the whales were not related and accused the Australian Government of "emotional propaganda".
As tensions mounted thousands of Australians and Japanese traded angry remarks beneath a YouTube video made in Japan, which accused Australia of racism and hypocrisy.
Relations between Canberra and Tokyo were eroded by the efforts of activists aboard environmental ship Sea Shepherd, who hounded Japanese whalers for weeks and on one occasion threw "acid" at whalers aboard Japanese ship the Nisshin Maru. Whalers detained two of the activists for days after they boarded the Japanese ship.
As a result of the harassment the whaling fleet only caught 551 minke whales, compared with the planned catch of 850, and failed to catch any fin whales, despite setting a target of 50.
In an effort to ease tensions, Mr Smith insisted again yesterday that Australia would press on with efforts to reach a "diplomatic solution to this issue" before resorting to legal action. So far Tokyo had given no sign that it intended to make concessions to its annual whaling targets.
The trip to Tokyo, which is the second by Mr Smith this year, is in part an attempt to smooth the way for a hastily-arranged visit by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, next month. Mr Rudd was pressured into making the trip after criticism, mostly from Australia, that he had snubbed his counter part Yasuo Fukuda by choosing not to include Japan in a 17-day world trip last month.
Australia and New Zealand have denied ditching the possibility of legal action to stop Japanese whaling.
Rejecting a report that New Zealand had abandoned the legal route to stop the annual Southern Ocean cull of almost 1000 whales, the countries said it remained an option, although a diplomatic solution remained the preferred course of action.
The New Zealand Conservation Minister, Steve Chadwick, said New Zealand had "examined legal options for taking a case against Japan with great care".
"In the past we have identified obstacles to legal action. That said, New Zealand continues to be open minded about the possibility of taking a case against Japanese whaling," Ms Chadwick said.
On a visit to Tokyo yesterday, the Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, said the Government would continue to build a case to take Japan to the International Court of Justice in The Hague over its research whaling program.
But he re-affirmed an undertaking he gave the Japanese Foreign Minister, Masahiko Koumura, that Australia would not "announce or initiate or undertake legal action without letting the Japanese government know that that's the conclusion we've come to".
A Japanese government official said that "a decision to drop this case would be in the interests of all countries involved. It's a groundless case."
The $1 million legal campaign to gather evidence against Japan's scientific whaling program generated considerable friction between the two nations during Japan's annual hunt.
In February footage captured by Australian customs vessel Oceanic Viking, which trailed the Japanese whaling fleet for several weeks, challenged Japan's claims that its whaling methods were humane and efficient.
The Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, stirred resentment in Tokyo when he said he felt sick at seeing photographs of the "indiscriminate killing" of a mother minke whale and its calf.
In response, the director general of the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, Minoru Morimoto, said the whales were not related and accused the Australian Government of "emotional propaganda".
As tensions mounted thousands of Australians and Japanese traded angry remarks beneath a YouTube video made in Japan, which accused Australia of racism and hypocrisy.
Relations between Canberra and Tokyo were eroded by the efforts of activists aboard environmental ship Sea Shepherd, who hounded Japanese whalers for weeks and on one occasion threw "acid" at whalers aboard Japanese ship the Nisshin Maru. Whalers detained two of the activists for days after they boarded the Japanese ship.
As a result of the harassment the whaling fleet only caught 551 minke whales, compared with the planned catch of 850, and failed to catch any fin whales, despite setting a target of 50.
In an effort to ease tensions, Mr Smith insisted again yesterday that Australia would press on with efforts to reach a "diplomatic solution to this issue" before resorting to legal action. So far Tokyo had given no sign that it intended to make concessions to its annual whaling targets.
The trip to Tokyo, which is the second by Mr Smith this year, is in part an attempt to smooth the way for a hastily-arranged visit by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, next month. Mr Rudd was pressured into making the trip after criticism, mostly from Australia, that he had snubbed his counter part Yasuo Fukuda by choosing not to include Japan in a 17-day world trip last month.
