Japan was jubilant today after the International Whaling Commission voted to oppose the 1986 ban on commercial whaling, a move that conservationists fear could lead to a resumption of large-scale hunting and bring whale populations to the brink of extinction.
Though Japan and other pro-whaling nations fell well short of the 75% of votes they need to overturn the IWC moratorium, a foreign ministry spokesman in Tokyo hailed the passage of a resolution critical of the ban as "a significant step forward".
"We rejoice at the outcome because we have long been hoping that the IWC will again become a talking shop," he told the Guardian. "Now it isn't even a talking shop - it's just a forum for exchanging emotions."
The resolution, which passed by 33 votes to 32, says the moratorium is no longer necessary and blames whales for depleting fish stocks.
Its adoption at the IWC meeting on the Caribbean island of St Kitts marks a shift in the balance of power at the IWC and a victory for Japan after it narrowly lost three key votes, including a proposal to allow it to resume coastal whaling, on Friday and Saturday.
Delegates from Caribbean and African countries said they had voted against the ban to nudge the IWC towards taking up its original mandate of managing whale hunts rather than banning them. "We're dealing with an ecosystem where whales are on top of the food chain," said Daven Joseph, a delegate from St Kitts.
But Chris Carter, New Zealand's environment minister, said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" that six Pacific islands attending the meeting had voted with Japan, even after some had said they would abstain.
"I was told by Pacific leaders that they would never agree to the resumption of commercial whaling, but that's essentially what their delegates did," he said in a radio interview.
Japan's allies in Sunday's vote included several smaller nations that have received aid packages from Tokyo. Antigua, Dominica, Grenada and three other countries which last year received at least $300m (£162m) in Japanese aid, voted against the ban, although Panama, which received similar support, voted in favour. The Pacific islands of Tuvalu, Nauru and Kiribati, the recipients of generous aid pledges, also sided with the pro-whaling lobby.
Japan, however, is angered by claims that it has bought itself a majority on the IWC by extending its largesse to desperately poor countries.
"Many people accuse Japan of chequebook diplomacy, but the Pacific islands have long been in the heart and mind of Japan as allies for UN reform and a whole range of other issues," the Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said. "The agenda for the Japanese government towards the Pacific islands has a scope far wider than just the whaling issue."
Junichi Sato, campaign director at Greenpeace Japan, cautioned against attaching too much importance to the so-called St Kitts declaration. "Of course it's a very sad day for whales, but we will take our message worldwide and bring the IWC back to being a conservation organisation," he said. "This vote wasn't as controversial as the others so it was easier for [smaller countries] to vote that way. Japan is by no means guaranteed a majority over the next two days."
Later today the IWC is expected to debate a motion on the role of NGOs, which Greenpeace and other fear could mean an end to their observer status. "Of course that is something we are concerned about," Mr Sato said.
Japan's vocal support for a return to commercial whaling, meanwhile, threatens to sour its otherwise close ties to countries such as the US and Britain.
"If Japan's brand image has been damaged among the British people by the whaling issue then that is a tragedy, and I can only ask them to put things into perspective and not come to the conclusion that Japan is an evil nation," the spokesman said.
