Japan invites Australia to be observer at G-8 summit: report
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SYDNEY, Feb. 29 — Japan has invited Australia to be an observer at the Group of Eight summit in July, a local newspaper reported Friday.
The Australian Financial Review quoted government sources saying Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s participation in the G-8 summit has been confirmed by Tokyo.
The G-8 summit, to be held at the Lake Toya hot-spring resort area in Hokkaido, brings together leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The meeting is expected to be dominated by discussions on climate change. Australia’s recent change in becoming a champion for climate change and its move to ratify the Kyoto Protocol is believed to be partially responsible for the invitation, the newspaper said.
The Australian media has interpreted the invitation as a sign of the country’s close bilateral relationship with Japan, which has not been significantly harmed by its anti-whaling protests against Japan.
Rudd sidestepped questions about his involvement at the summit when he spoke to reporters in the capital of Canberra on Friday.
‘’I understand that the government of Japan has announcements to make on that,'’ he said. ‘’I don’t wish to preempt formal statements by the government of Japan.'’
Last week, Rudd told a local radio that he would like to visit Japan'’ at the earliest opportunity.'’ Asked whether the visit will coincide with the G-8 summit, Rudd said, ‘’We’ve been in discussions with our friends in Tokyo along those lines.'’
Filed by Colum Grove-White under Other, Climate Change