Reuters AlertNet Lite - Australia, Japan say whaling should not hurt ties

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Australia, Japan say whaling should not hurt ties

23 Jan 2008 01:58:03 GMT
Source: Reuters

TOKYO, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Tokyo and Canberra are determined not to let a spat over Japan's whaling in the South Pacific affect their overall relationship, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said on Wednesday.

His comments came hours after Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura urged the Australian government, which strongly opposes whaling, to take "appropriate action" against anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd if their ship enters an Australian port.

Two members of Sea Shepherd boarded a Japanese harpoon ship earlier this month, forcing the fleet to suspend whaling. The two were taken into custody before being handed over to an Australian customs vessel.

"The fact remains that despite the difference of opinion on that issue, it has not been a detraction from continuing to progress substantially other dimensions of the bilateral relationship," Crean told reporters during a visit to Tokyo, where he has met Komura and other officials.

Crean earlier told an audience of business executives he was the first minister representing the seven-week-old Australian government to make a major overseas trip, underlining the importance of ties with Japan.

Some had feared that the Labor administration's harder line on whaling might shake its relationship with Australia's biggest trading partner.

"It is important to understand that this is a difficult issue between our two countries," Crean said. "We have strongly divergent views, and I've taken the opportunity to reiterate our opposition to whaling whilst I'm here."

Japan has been Australia's biggest trading partner since 1957. The two countries signed a defence pact last year and are in negotiations towards a free trade agreement, although this is being hampered by Japan's reluctance to open up its agricultural sector, Crean said.

"The simple fact facing Japan is that unless it's prepared to join with liberalisation in agriculture, there won't be liberalisation in goods or services," Crean said. (Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; editing by Sophie Hardach)

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