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Australian leader, in Japan, stands firm against whaling
2008-06-11
TOKYO (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stood firm Wednesday against Japan's whaling, saying he would consider legal action, but shrugged off charges that he had ignored relations with the longtime ally. Rudd was on a visit to Japan aimed at showing his commitment to the two countries' alliance after he skipped Tokyo but went to Beijing in his first foreign tour after taking office. The prime minister hit back at the criticism, noting that several Australian ministers, including those of finance and foreign affairs, visited Tokyo after he was sworn in last December. "I cannot point to any other country frankly where we would have such high level ministerial visits," Rudd told a news conference in Tokyo. "This is a very important relationship." "How many Japanese ministers were able to visit Australia in the same time? I don't think there are any," he said. But he did not hold back from criticism of Japan over its whaling. Tokyo kills hundreds of whales each year in the Antarctic despite protests by Australia, New Zealand and other countries. "It's a strong disagreement among friends," Rudd said. He denied Australian press reports that Canberra would drop plans to take the whaling issue to international courts because New Zealand had discovered "significant difficulties" with the approach. "You are wrong to characterise that the policy has changed ... in terms of abandoning any possible legal course of action," Rudd said. "We have simply said for the period ahead that we will be working with our friends in Tokyo on diplomatic solutions to this outstanding disagreement," he said. Rudd's left-leaning government has ramped up pressure on Japan by sending a customs vessel to track the whalers and gather evidence for a possible legal case. Rudd said he hoped for progress at the annual meeting later this month in Chile of the International Whaling Commission, a global body torn between supporters and opponents of whaling. "Let us look constructively and positively about what might emerge after that meeting and further bilateral discussions between us on this important matter," Rudd said. "Into the future, of course let's hope that the diplomacy works." Japan uses a loophole allowing whaling for scientific purposes to kill around 1,000 of the ocean giants every year, arguing that whaling is part of its culture. Any legal action is likely to take place in either the UN International Court of Justice in The Hague or the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg. Rudd is due to meet on Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. Whaling and slow-moving talks on a free-trade agreement are expected to be on their agenda. The Australian leader and his wife, Therese Rein, visited the imperial palace in central Tokyo earlier Wednesday to meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko. He invited them to pay a visit to Australia. "Their last visit to Australia was 1973," he said. "They will be welcome guests to our country."
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