Japan's whaling 'shopping list'

Less than a week after Japan and its allies scored a stunning victory at the International Whaling Commission (IWC) conference–paving the way for a possible return to commercial whaling–the Japanese government has inadvertently revealed how it was done: by buying the votes it needed. In a written reply to a query on Japan's "marine-aid" to developing countries, the government has acknowledged donating $5.3 million last year to St. Kitts, the Caribbean nation that hosted the IWC conference. Japan also gave $10.2 million to Nicaragua, while the Pacific island cluster of Palau got $4.9 million. All three countries voted with Japan, Iceland and Norway at the conference in favor of the St. Kitts and Nevis Declaration, calling for the 20-year ban on commercial whaling to be eventually scrapped. The pro-whaling camp won the ballot by just one vote. Conservationists said the result, while largely symbolic, could spell disaster for the world's whale stocks. Japan has long been accused of using aid packages to swing the 70-member IWC back into the pro-whaling camp. Many of the commission's 20 newest members, such as the Marshall Islands and St. Kitts, have no history of whaling and several, including Mongolia and Mali, have no coastlines. Conservationists also say Japan has been known to pay the IWC subscriptions of poorer members such as Togo, which turned up late to the conference with its $10,000 membership fee in cash, although such allegations have never been proved.