SYDNEY -- The need for closer links between Tokyo and Canberra has never been clearer than in recent days: Bloody fighting in East Timor, humanitarian rescue near the Java volcano site, economic basket cases in the South Pacific . . . The case for regional cooperation grows more urgent daily.
The latest summit at Okinawa of Pacific Island Forum officials brought welcome assurances of coordinated aid from Japan, New Zealand and Australia. Even there, an undercurrent of suspicion was apparent. Has Tokyo its own agenda based on its perceived need to counteract growing Beijing influence in the South Pacific?
Now Canberra is lobbying South Pacific states such as the Marshall Islands to head off a Japanese attempt at stacking a prowhaling lobby at the upcoming meeting of the International Whaling Commission.