Saturday, December 22, 2007 6:48 pm | 
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Japan halted Wednesday its plans to kill up to 50 humpback whales. | Photo: Erik Ogan. Creative Commons |
US, Australia welcome Japan’s halt to whaling plans
Both the United States and Australia said they welcomed Japan’s decision to halt planned humpback whale hunts for a year or two, according to Kyodo and AFP reports. Australia still lodged a formal protest with Japan calling for an end to all whaling.
“We welcome today’s announcement from Japan that it will suspend its plan to target humpback whales during this year’s whaling program that is underway in the seas off Antarctica,” the United States’ State Department commented in a statement.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Stephen Smith took one step further, and continued to criticize Japan’s whaling program. “The Australian government strongly believes that there is no credible justification for the hunting of any whales and will vigorously pursue its efforts, announced earlier this week, to see an end to whaling by Japan,” he said in a statement quoted by AFP.
Smith said the Australian Embassy in Japan had lodged a formal diplomatic protest, signed by 30 countries and the European Union, in Tokyo on Friday night.
The Japanese government announced it would halt its planned killing of 50 whales for allegedly scientific purposes. The decision came after a U.S. government request for a halt and after Australia said it would shadow Japanese whalers dispatched to the Antarctic Sea.
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While low-cost carriers have since long been successfully operating throughout the U.S., Europe, and southern Asia, Japan has seen very little of the low-price action.
