BEPPU, OITA PREF. ¨C Japan is reportedly set to soon announce it is withdrawing from the International Whaling Commission.
Disagreements over Â鶹´«Ã½ whaling operations have deadlocked the commission for three decades, during which the camp of anti-whaling nations has gradually gained strength. Â鶹´«Ã½ decision is best understood through a combination of both international and domestic reasons.
Withdrawing from the IWC isn¡¯t likely to have far-reaching diplomatic implications beyond the whaling issue. Japan and its opponents in the IWC will free themselves of the no-win confrontation over whaling and focus on their more urgent need for strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Japan will carry out a long overdue reform of the whaling industry through its normal framework of administrative reform and marketization.
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