The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday the country was to take the issue of anti-whaling activists' attacks on Japan's whaling fleets to the International Whaling Commission (IWC)'s meeting starting Thursday in London.
A foreign ministry spokesman was quoted by Kyodo News as saying that Japan intends to take the opportunity to call for international cooperation to prevent nongovernmental organizations' obstruction on high seas from happening again.
In the latest case, anti-whaling activists attacked a factory ship of a Japanese whaling fleet in the Southern Ocean on Monday by throwing bottles containing chemicals, causing eye irritation of three people onboard the ship.
On Tuesday, two Japanese Cabinet ministers called on the international society to deal toughly with the case.
Japan kills about 1,000 whales annually. It has always been claiming that its whaling program is for scientific purpose and the world whale populations could afford a limited catch.
According to the Japanese agriculture, forestry and fishery ministry, Japan's original hunting target for the current season was 1, 035 whales, including 50 precious humpbacks.
The country wiped off the humpbacks from the target list in mid December under the IWC's proposal.
Source:Xinhua
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