Visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard said Friday that his country will decide on the basis of national interests whether to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, even if Japan goes ahead without the United States.
"Whatever decision we take will not be based on following one country or another . . . (but) based on what we regard as being in the best interests of Australia," Howard told a news conference.
The 62-year-old prime minister, however, said he and his Japanese counterpart, Junichiro Koizumi, "both agreed that a comprehensive agreement would be difficult to be seen as feasible unless it included the United States and developing countries."