Japan yesterday held talks with dozens of countries to plot the
future of the global whaling body, but most Western states
boycotted the meeting as a charade aimed at resuming commercial
hunting.
The three-day meeting kicked off to a small protest by
environmentalists, who accused the delegates of being bought off by
Japanese money.
Japan invited all 72 members of the International Whaling
Commission (IWC) to take part but, in a sign it is nearly split
down the middle, 34 countries showed up.
Japan, which says that whale meat is part of its culture, kills
more than 1,000 whales a year using a loophole in a global
moratorium meant to protect the giant sea creatures.
Tokyo called the meeting to "normalize" the IWC which it
believes is supposed to manage whale hunting rather than ban it,
but said it had sought to hear from those on both sides of the
debate.
Australia, Britain and the United States are among the whaling
opponents shunning the Tokyo conference.
"Many countries in the IWC agree that it needs to be reformed,
but not in the way that Japan has presented. Japan is recruiting
countries with money," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan's
campaign chief.
"This meeting is not about normalization, it's about
commercialization," he said.
(China Daily via agencies February 14, 2007)
