Okada, Rudd discuss whaling, agree to cooperate on U.N. operations

SYDNEY, Feb. 20 Kyodo -
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Australian Prime Minister Kevin
Rudd met Saturday in Sydney, where they discussed Australia's opposition to
Japanese whaling and agreed to cooperate on U.N. peacekeeping operations,
disaster relief and nuclear disarmament, Australian and Japanese officials
said.
Rudd and Okada, who arrived in Australia earlier in the day for a two-day
visit, held broad-ranging talks which included ''a frank discussion on
whaling,'' a spokesman for the Australian prime minister said in a statement
carried by local media.
''They agreed on the deep and strong links that had been developed over many
decades of friendly and mutually beneficial relations,'' the statement said.
Japanese officials said Rudd, who warned earlier this week that Australia would
resort to international legal action unless Japan ceases whaling in the
Antarctic Ocean by November, told Okada that Australia seeks a solution through
''rational dialogue.''
They said Okada agreed with him on the importance of reaching a diplomatic
solution, but at the same time he sought Australia's cooperation over the
U.S.-based anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
Alluding to repeated clashes on the high seas, the foreign minister called Sea
Shepherd's harassment of the Japanese whaling fleet ''absolutely unforgivable
and ''dangerous.''
Rudd said that while Australia condemns acts of violence, there is no ''legal
basis'' to bar Sea Shepherd access to Australian port facilities as sought by
Japan, the officials said.
The two also agreed to accelerate work to conclude the bilateral acquisition
and cross-servicing agreement that would enable Japan's Self-Defense Forces and
the Australian military to share food, fuel and other supplies and services in
their operations.
Prior to his talks with Rudd, Okada met with Defense Minister John Faulkner and
they confirmed they would hold the third meeting of foreign and defense
ministers from the two countries during the first half of this year in Tokyo,
the officials said.
Faulkner, in a statement, said he ''highlighted the strength of the defense
relationship with Japan'' during his meeting with Okada and discussed with him
''opportunities for cooperation.''
He cited the development of an Acquisition and Cross-servicing Agreement, which
was announced during Rudd's visit to Japan in December last year with the aim
of facilitating logistics cooperation between the Australian Defense Force and
the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.
''This agreement...will allow Australia and Japan to better coordinate their
cooperation in a range of areas, including disaster relief and peacekeeping,''
he said.
Japan and Australia want to enhance their strategic partnership and are seeking
to step up security cooperation centering on areas such as disaster relief and
counterterrorism, according to a Japanese Foreign Ministry official.
On the economic front, Japan is aiming to create political momentum for the two
countries to conclude a free trade accord and to secure stable supplies of
resources from Australia, which is already a major supplier to Japan of natural
resources, energy and foodstuffs.
Among global issues, the two countries are seeking to reinforce their
cooperation on nuclear disarmament ahead of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty review conference in May, the official said.
An international panel on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament was
established in 2008 under a joint initiative by the Japanese and Australian
governments. It released a report in December that presented a comprehensive
action agenda toward the elimination of nuclear threats.
Okada will meet Sunday in Perth with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith,
who told Sky News earlier this week that Okada's visit to Australia presents an
opportunity for the two governments to try and reach a ''satisfactory outcome''
on the whaling issue.
''I'll make the point that Australia wants Japan to cease whaling in the Great
Southern Oceans. We are working as hard as we can both bilaterally and through
the International Whaling Commission for a diplomatic solution,'' he said.
''But if we can't reach a diplomatic solution, then we have made it clear to
Japan in the past and I'll make it clear to Foreign Minister Okada when I see
him over the weekend, that we reserve the right to take action before the
International Court of Justice or the International Tribunal for the Law of the
Sea.''
But Smith added that ''neither of us will let it get in the way of the strength
of what is a fundamentally important relationship between Australia and Japan,
not just economically but in a strategic and a security sense as well.''
==Kyodo