politics

Australia PM: Whaling spat shouldn't be allowed to hurt Japan ties

20 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

20 Comments
Login to comment

Australia PM: Whaling spat shouldn't be allowed to hurt Japan ties

Then why even bother bringing it up? If its all bark and no bite, Japan will have zero incentive to stop it. Grow a backbone.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

Then why even bother bringing it up?

Probably because some Australians get very upset about whaling, and the PM is telling them that whilst they can protest the issue, government-to-government relations will remain strong. I.e. "don't complain if I don't get the whaling stopped - it's not a priority for me".

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Nice timing Japan. Another gold medal in foreign relations. All while trying to secure a massive contract from the very people that this offends the most. Bravo.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

"hurt ties" or "hurt special strategic ties"?

It does hurt many a people and brings you nothing but harm.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Wise statement from the Australian Prime Minister.

Cultural difference isn't worth sacrificing the relationship over.

As Japan's representative said recently, the solution is to agree to disagree.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

This is less cultural but rather our all, so small planet. Do you want to give it to the corporates?

In down under you can see the whales going with the seasons just like migrating birds, just from your Home at the coast.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

He is just another flip-flop politician. Even his three statements in this article contradict each other. He was all 'gunghoe' against whaling before he got to Japan. Now, he's just turned into another whimpy apple polisher!

4 ( +8 / -4 )

we should be up-front and frank

There's nothing frank about claiming that a commercial hunt is 'research'.

5 ( +9 / -4 )

Australia PM: Whaling spat shouldn't be allowed to hurt Japan ties

then why even bother bringing it up? To provide free entertainment to JT readers (sarcasm)

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

If Australia is such a good friend of Japan, they should organize an "intervention" with all the other friends they share. Like for any addicted person in denial, Japan needs a wake up call and faces its own lies and the consequences of its actions. Doing anything else is not being a friend, it is being afraid of telling the truth (for whatever bad reason).

And there is no difference of opinion, there is one law and there is what is not that law. Violating the law is not having a difference of opinion. The International Court of Justice has made it more than clear what is legal or not. Everything else, "difference of opinion", "objection", "mutual understanding" is just non-sense and pathetic excuses, and should be condemned and punished.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Mmm. Whale meat is back on the menu. Just let me get my miniature harpoons, er, I mean "chopsticks".

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

There was a time when certain species of whales were at risk of extinction due to whaling but their numbers have returned to healthy levels and if a few thousand are taken each year it poses no threat to their numbers. What is the difference between killing a cow or a pig and eating it as opposed to a whale? Is it because they swim slowly and communicate with their kin? Last time I checked other animals that we slaughter for food have the same characteristics. Get over it. People eat animals. If you can't deal with it go to mars and eat some lichen.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Wise guy, Australian PM. Good luck.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Turnbull knows, as every leader involved in this mess do, that there are plenty of minkes in the Southern Ocean. 515 to 760.000 and thus that the Antarctic stock and the rest of the species are abundant and healthy. At the same time, pressure from some US fundamentalist NGOs which moved to Australia (IFAW, HSI, Sea Shepard and other crazies) to set camp after the fund raising in the north was falling short and aussies were naïve enough to buy their twisted story force Australia to take a decision to appease their voters. No nation may impose his/her wishes, views cultural or other subjective positions on others. Leave the Japanese alone. It seems that Japan bashing over forgets that d the postpone of the review of the moratorium ( a temporary measure by definition) after being promised exactly that in 1990 which AU, NA and US subsequently opposed to carry out knowing that the results in some species were good. If Australia wants to remain a member of the ICW it should respect and abide by the constituent agreement of the IWC convention of 1946 where management of whales is up there. If you can not stomach it or respect it, then opt out.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

Although seeing 333 dead minke whales at one time would be rather shocking, it really is a drop in the ocean (excuse the pun). Thanks to the moratorium on whaling that 99% of countries have abided by for the past 30 years, the scientific evidence seems to confirm that the number of most species of whale has recovered strongly. Japanese people under 30 years old have probably never eaten whale meat or maybe just once to try it. This means when they grow older, it is unlikely they'll suddenly develop a taste for whale meat so overall the moratorium has worked extremely well in preventing whales from becoming extinct.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

JandworldDec. 18, 2015 - 03:24PM JST In down under you can see the whales going with the seasons just like migrating birds, just from your Home at the coast.

That's really nothing special. Are you aware that Japan has a whale-watching industry as well and Humpbacks can be seen from Hokkaido to Okinawa? But they don't hunt humpbacks because there are only an estimated 65000 of them in the world. Unlike the Mikes that they do hunt estimated at 700-800,000.

-7 ( +0 / -7 )

Carlos M

While there are indeed plenty of minkes down south there are also PLENTY right off Japans coast, so why the hell do they travel to the Antarctic to PRETEND to do research??

If Japan stuck to its coasts all this bad publicity would pretty much go away

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Each to his own I say. Japan has significant cultural differences to Australia and Western Nation in general, so they should be able to do what their culture dictates without so much criticism. Australia is hypocritical in telling Japan what it can and can't do. Whaling has been around for much longer than Australia has been a settled western Nation and Wales are still swimming in the world oceans and migrating as they always have.

-5 ( +1 / -6 )

About that research: I've done lots of research on pornography. And still collecting data....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Another issue is the waste of taxpayer money here.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites