(7 Jul 2014) New Zealand Prime Minister John Key broached the controversial issue of Japan's whaling programme during a visit to New Zealand by his Japanese counterpart, Shinzo Abe on Monday.
Abe was in New Zealand for a whistlestop tour aimed at improving the countries economic relationship.
He visited the South Island city of Christchurch, where 28 Japanese citizens were among 185 people who died in a powerful earthquake in February 2011.
The Japanese death toll was the highest in the quake for nationals of any country other than New Zealand.
Abe and his wife, Akie Abe, laid a wreath in memory of the victims, who were language killed when the multi-storey CTV Building collapsed.
Abe also visited Christchurch's temporary cathedral, which was designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban after the city's iconic stone cathedral was severely damaged in the quake.
Earlier in the day, at talks in Auckland, the New Zealand prime minister reiterated that his government has no tolerance for whaling.
"New Zealand's view is that there's no place for whaling, scientific or otherwise," he told reporters.
"If they (Japan) were undertaking whaling that was truly scientific, as defined by the International Court of Justice, then we might be limited in what we can do. But they need to meet that criteria, and we'd need to review what their programme looks like," Key said.
In March the International Court of Justice ruled that Japan's whaling programme is illegal, but Abe has conceded Japan hopes to find a way to resume whaling.
He acknowledged that the issue continues to divide the two nations.
"There are different positions with regards to whaling, but we have to make sure that there is no impact on the overall bilateral relationship," Abe told reporters.
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