The snarls began when Masayuki Komatsu, the head of Japan's fisheries agency, told abc-tv that his country used aid offers to win developing nations' support in IWC ballots. At last year's meeting, the votes of six Caribbean states-and the absence of the aid-hungry Solomon Islands-helped Japan and Norway block the sanctuary proposal. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who has long accused Japan of "checkbook diplomacy," said "this confirmation of Japan's tactics shows the desperate lengths it will go to to maintain whaling."
Australian Environment Minister Robert Hill was pulling his
punches, saying only that "with Japan and Norway working against
it," the plan to protect whales in their Pacific breeding
grounds would be "very hard" to achieve. But Japan's IWC delegate,
Minoru Morimoto, said the sanctuary proposal had no scientific
basis, and that if Hill insisted on opposing whaling "in the
face of abundant stocks," then "he should take his government
out of the [IWC]." That, or acquire a taste for whale meat.
-Elizabeth
Feizkhah
Candidate Shuffle
In Fiji's Election,
the Politicians Come and Go
Call it the season of non-sequels. all the political stars
who have most fascinated Fijians in recent years are back
for the August election campaign-even if it's just to say
goodbye. Sitiveni Rabuka, whose successful 1987 coup catapulted
him to seven years as elected Prime Minister, has said he
won't be available to stand for the Presidency; he'll be busy
working for racial harmony. George Speight, who in May last
year led a sequel to Rabuka's coup, and has since helped build
his own jail on Nukulau Island, was listed as a Conservative
Alliance candidate. But last week the party dropped him, citing
concern that his imminent treason trial might prevent his
taking a seat in the House.
Labour Party leader and ex-Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry,
who was taken hostage by Speight and then sacked for being
unable to do his job, is standing for re-election-and looks
increasingly likely to emerge as the most popular candidate.
But military chief Frank Bainimarama is on record as saying
Fiji "cannot be allowed to revert to the pre19 May 2000 status."
The Army has denied that that means overruling election results,
but constitutional lawyer Sir Vijay Singh said: "They will
never allow Mr. Chaudhry to be Prime Minister." Which may
rule out that sequel, too.
-E.F.
Tarmac Tourists
Off the air
Though widely imagined as paradise, tiny Pacific islands can
seem something else entirely to those stranded on them by
disrupted air services. At week's end, it was nearly a month
since Air Nauru's only plane-a Boeing 737-was grounded in
Melbourne with engine trouble. The airline's chief executive,
Ken McDonald, says the problem is purely technical, but others
say it is really Air Nauru's desperate cash shortage. With
no spare engines, the carrier needs Qantas to fix the broken
one, at a cost of about $A3.5 million. But a wary Qantas wants
to see the money up front. Counters McDonald: "We are paying
our bills-maybe a bit late, but that's it."
By Friday, most of the stranded travelers had been rescued
by special Air Pacific flights, and McDonald told TIME he
expected Air Nauru's plane to be flying again within days.
The airline's future is bright, he added: "My job is to restructure
it, possibly by increasing our fleet to two." But industry
analysts forecast turbulence for all small Pacific carriers,
as high fuel prices and a strong $US increase costs and regional
instability deters tourists. There'll be fewer still thanks
to the latest debacle, which has some victims vowing never
again to explore the simple joys of the Pacific. -Daniel Williams
