Japan's Influence Over IWC Voting Patterns
Japan is expending enormous political, diplomatic and financial resources on "encouraging" nations -- in particular small island developing states -- to support their position on whaling and related marine issues.
This "vote-consolidation program," as it has been referred to in the
Japanese press, has resulted in the establishment of a strong and cohesive
"whalers' bloc" within the IWC, as well as in other forums such as the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The power of this "whalers’ bloc" was clearly demonstrated during the July 2001 IWC meeting in London and the May 2002 IWC meeting in Shimonoseki, Japan when the establishment of a South Pacific Sanctuary was blocked by whalers and their supporters. All of the eastern Caribbean countries receiving fisheries grant aid from Japan voted against the proposal to establish a South Pacific Sanctuary despite the fact that many Southern Pacific island states who are not members of the IWC had expressed support for the sanctuary.
Just before the IWC's 2001 annual meeting, a senior Japanese official, Masayuki Komatsu, said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that he saw "nothing wrong" with using aid as an inducement to secure backing, and said that it was natural to use overseas development aid "to get an appreciation of Japan’s position."
Komatsu further angered conservationists by describing the minke whale as "the cockroach of the oceans." Asked to explain this description, he said there were too many of them and they move very quickly.
"Vote-Buying" and Japan's "Vote-Consolidation" Program
The issue of "vote-buying," as it has been referred to in the media, has for some years now attracted particular attention regarding several island nations in the Eastern Caribbean, beginning with St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Both countries joined the IWC in 1981; for the first five years of their membership they supported conservation proposals in direct opposition to Japan.
On the eve of the IWC's 1986 meeting in Sweden, however, the countries' governments made an abrupt U-turn; they have consistently and vocally supported the Japanese position ever since.
This position change occurred just two weeks after the Prime Ministers of both St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines had been guests of the Japanese government in Tokyo, "reviewing the economic relations between Japan and their respective countries and urging Japanese aid and investment."
This visit was later described in official Japanese reports as the start of a closer relationship between the countries.
This "closer relationship" involved more than just nice words. In the 1987 fiscal year, each country received fisheries grant aid of nearly US$2.5 million, and many millions of additional yen in technical cooperation. In the intervening years, both countries have received a total of approximately US$30 to $40 million in fisheries grant aid.
Japan has also succeeded in recruiting Grenada in support of its whaling and, after sometimes strong resistance on the part of the governments concerned, was able to move Antigua and Barbuda to a pro-whaling position within the IWC.
In July 2001, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Lester Bird, told the Caribbean news agency, Cana that his country supports Japan’s pro-whaling stance.
When asked whether his administration was supporting whaling because of the aid his country was getting from Japan, he told the news agency, "Partly, yes, quite frankly I make no bones about it."
Antigua and Barbuda has received millions of dollars in aid from Japan since 1996 for the construction of a bus station and fishery facilities. In July 2001, a bilateral agreement between the two nations was signed for the financing of US$14.81 million for the renovation of fisheries facilities.
The Republic of Seychelles was also put under pressure from Japan to change its conservationist position. Unable to maintain that position, but also unwilling to capitulate to Japan, it left the IWC.
As a result of this "vote-consolidation program," Japan has now developed a strong and cohesive "whalers' bloc," which could prevent any conservation initiative requiring a three-fourths majority from being adopted in the future.
The power of this "whalers’ bloc" was clearly demonstrated during the July 2001 IWC meeting in London and the May 2002 IWC meeting in Shimonoseki, Japan when the establishment of a South Pacific Sanctuary was blocked by whalers and their supporters. All of the eastern Caribbean countries receiving fisheries grant aid from Japan voted against the proposal to establish a South Pacific Sanctuary despite the fact that many Southern Pacific island states who are not members of the IWC had expressed support for the sanctuary.
Just before the IWC's 2001 annual meeting, a senior Japanese official, Masayuki Komatsu, said in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that he saw "nothing wrong" with using aid as an inducement to secure backing, and said that it was natural to use overseas development aid "to get an appreciation of Japan’s position."
Komatsu further angered conservationists by describing the minke whale as "the cockroach of the oceans." Asked to explain this description, he said there were too many of them and they move very quickly.
"Vote-Buying" and Japan's "Vote-Consolidation" Program
The issue of "vote-buying," as it has been referred to in the media, has for some years now attracted particular attention regarding several island nations in the Eastern Caribbean, beginning with St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Both countries joined the IWC in 1981; for the first five years of their membership they supported conservation proposals in direct opposition to Japan.
On the eve of the IWC's 1986 meeting in Sweden, however, the countries' governments made an abrupt U-turn; they have consistently and vocally supported the Japanese position ever since.
This position change occurred just two weeks after the Prime Ministers of both St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines had been guests of the Japanese government in Tokyo, "reviewing the economic relations between Japan and their respective countries and urging Japanese aid and investment."
This visit was later described in official Japanese reports as the start of a closer relationship between the countries.
This "closer relationship" involved more than just nice words. In the 1987 fiscal year, each country received fisheries grant aid of nearly US$2.5 million, and many millions of additional yen in technical cooperation. In the intervening years, both countries have received a total of approximately US$30 to $40 million in fisheries grant aid.
Japan has also succeeded in recruiting Grenada in support of its whaling and, after sometimes strong resistance on the part of the governments concerned, was able to move Antigua and Barbuda to a pro-whaling position within the IWC.
In July 2001, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Lester Bird, told the Caribbean news agency, Cana that his country supports Japan’s pro-whaling stance.
When asked whether his administration was supporting whaling because of the aid his country was getting from Japan, he told the news agency, "Partly, yes, quite frankly I make no bones about it."
Antigua and Barbuda has received millions of dollars in aid from Japan since 1996 for the construction of a bus station and fishery facilities. In July 2001, a bilateral agreement between the two nations was signed for the financing of US$14.81 million for the renovation of fisheries facilities.
The Republic of Seychelles was also put under pressure from Japan to change its conservationist position. Unable to maintain that position, but also unwilling to capitulate to Japan, it left the IWC.
As a result of this "vote-consolidation program," Japan has now developed a strong and cohesive "whalers' bloc," which could prevent any conservation initiative requiring a three-fourths majority from being adopted in the future.
