ID :
72195
Sat, 07/25/2009 - 22:42
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/72195
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U.S. urges Japan to be more flexible on whaling: source
WASHINGTON, July 25 Kyodo -
The United States recently urged Japan to take a more flexible stance on
whaling, an issue on which Japan has been at odds with antiwhaling countries, a
source close to Japan-U.S. relations said Saturday.
The jawboning, which came in the form of letters from Cabinet-level U.S.
administration officials, is apparently meant to put pressure on Tokyo to
substantially cut the size of its catch for so-called research whaling.
Anxious to win the nod from antiwhaling countries for it to resume full-scale
coastal whaling, Japan is wary of the U.S. urging as it presages a possible
harder-line U.S. policy on the issue, the source said.
The letters were sent out through the U.S. Embassy in Japan prior to the
general meeting of the International Whaling Commission held on the Portuguese
island of Madeira on June 22-25.
One letter was from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Japanese Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Foreign Minister Hirofumi
Nakasone, and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai.
The other letter was from Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House's Council on
Environmental Quality, to Japanese Environment Minister Tetsuo Saito.
The two letters, almost identical in terms of substance, pointed out that an
interim IWC meeting in Rome in March produced only disappointing results and
pressed Tokyo to be more flexible to bring the general meeting to a successful
conclusion, the source said.
While the letters called for no specific measures for Japan to take, Tokyo
interpreted them as suggesting that it further reduce its research whaling, the
source said.
A Japanese government source said the stance by the administration of President
Barack Obama on the whaling issue is fundamentally unchanged from that of the
administration of former President George W. Bush, adding Tokyo needs to keep a
close watch on Washington's next move.
This year's IWC annual meeting ended after failing to reach consensus on key
issues such as the proposed whaling in Japan's coastal waters and a Danish
proposal on humpback hunting off Greenland.
==Kyodo
The United States recently urged Japan to take a more flexible stance on
whaling, an issue on which Japan has been at odds with antiwhaling countries, a
source close to Japan-U.S. relations said Saturday.
The jawboning, which came in the form of letters from Cabinet-level U.S.
administration officials, is apparently meant to put pressure on Tokyo to
substantially cut the size of its catch for so-called research whaling.
Anxious to win the nod from antiwhaling countries for it to resume full-scale
coastal whaling, Japan is wary of the U.S. urging as it presages a possible
harder-line U.S. policy on the issue, the source said.
The letters were sent out through the U.S. Embassy in Japan prior to the
general meeting of the International Whaling Commission held on the Portuguese
island of Madeira on June 22-25.
One letter was from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to Japanese Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Foreign Minister Hirofumi
Nakasone, and Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai.
The other letter was from Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House's Council on
Environmental Quality, to Japanese Environment Minister Tetsuo Saito.
The two letters, almost identical in terms of substance, pointed out that an
interim IWC meeting in Rome in March produced only disappointing results and
pressed Tokyo to be more flexible to bring the general meeting to a successful
conclusion, the source said.
While the letters called for no specific measures for Japan to take, Tokyo
interpreted them as suggesting that it further reduce its research whaling, the
source said.
A Japanese government source said the stance by the administration of President
Barack Obama on the whaling issue is fundamentally unchanged from that of the
administration of former President George W. Bush, adding Tokyo needs to keep a
close watch on Washington's next move.
This year's IWC annual meeting ended after failing to reach consensus on key
issues such as the proposed whaling in Japan's coastal waters and a Danish
proposal on humpback hunting off Greenland.
==Kyodo
