Editorials
Monday, October 27, 1997THE new commercial fishing complex planned by the state at Pier 38, where Kapalama Stream empties into Honolulu Harbor, will not only consolidate now-scattered fishing-related activities. It also will make valuable space at Kewalo Basin available for tourist-related operations, including a proposed aquarium. Fishing complex will be
big improvementThe fishing industry should benefit because processing of fresh fish will be quicker and more economical. Fishing boats will unload at Pier 38 and fish will be auctioned on the spot.
Private interests are expected to build processing facilities, an auction house, icehouse, supply shop, boat maintenance and fueling facilities. Ten low-rise buildings are planned for the 16-acre site.
Governor Cayetano, announcing the plan, said it "will showcase Hawaii's fishing industry in a modern and efficient commercial center." He said there also will be attractions for tourists in observing fish auctions and sampling seafood at a restaurant on the site.
But the greater benefit for tourism will be at Kewalo Basin. The growth of the sports fishing and tour boat businesses at the basin has provided an incentive to move commercial fishing facilities to another location. Pier 38 is a convenient choice.
This will be a major step in the improvement of the Honolulu waterfront launched in the Waihee administration with the development of Kakaako park and the Aloha Tower Marketplace.
NELSON Mandela professed nonviolence in his campaign to destroy the white supremacist regime in South Africa and won worldwide acclaim. But he is discrediting himself by his embrace of the Libyan terrorist leader, Moammar Gadhafi. Visiting Libya, the South African president hugged and kissed Gadhafi and called for a lifting of economic sanctions against his regime. Mandela and Gadhafi
The sanctions were imposed by the United Nations to force Gadhafi to comply with U.S. and British demands that he extradite two men suspected of killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland. Gadhafi insists that the men be tried in Libya or a neutral country, and Mandela -- incredibly -- endorses that position.
Mandela says he is Gadhafi's friend because he supported Mandela's anti-apartheid struggle. But Gadhafi is a notorious sponsor of terrorism, and the Lockerbie bombing is only the worst in a series of outrages he has been linked with.
The demand that the trial be conducted in Libya or a neutral country is nonsense and must be firmly resisted. Does anyone imagine that the United States would consent to have the perpetrators of the World Trade Center bombing tried outside the country, perhaps in Iran?
In a reference to U.S. criticism of his visit, Mandela said, "Those who say I should not be here are without morals. I am not going to join them in their lack of morality." Mandela comes off as remarkably thin-skinned. Yet he sees no problem in associating with a man who has the blood of 270 innocent people in one incident alone on his hands.
It is distressing that Nelson Mandela, who has earned international respect for his principled nonviolence and statesmanship, culminating in the Nobel Peace Prize, should stoop so low as to associate with this ruthless pariah and to support him in his shielding of terrorists. It seems that Mandela's commitment to nonviolence applies only when it suits his purposes.
IF any was needed, evidence that Korean resentment of Japanese imperialism still smolders has been supplied by the newsletter of the South Korean embassy. This has to due with an ongoing campaign to win acceptance for the term "East Sea" for the body of water, commonly known as the Sea of Japan, lying between the Japanese islands and the Korean peninsula. 'East Sea' campaign
The newsletter said the embassy began the campaign two years ago "in order to end the misuse and misrepresentation of the name which stemmed from Japanese expansionism." It recalled that while Korea was under Japanese occupation, beginning in 1910, Japan's international influence led to common use of "Sea of Japan." It specifically mentioned a 1926 conference of the International Hydrographic Bureau in this connection.
However, Korea contends that in earlier times no single name had been used consistently. The newsletter, in fact, said that from the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century "Sea of Korea" was most frequently used.
We are told that the issue was raised by the Korean government as long ago as 1965, in negotiations with Japan on a fisheries agreement. The two countries agreed to maintain their respective names in each of their texts. Korea again raised the issue at the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. The conference recommended that disputes over names be resolved through consultation.
Now the Koreans are reporting progress. The leading U.S. map maker, Rand McNally, has agreed to publish the name "East Sea" in parenthesis under "Sea of Japan" in its products. The newsletter comments: "This important step will hopefully mark the beginning of full-scale recognition throughout the international community."
The United States and Mexico once fought a war, and Britain and France fought many times. We aren't aware of Americans grumbling about the Gulf of Mexico or the French about the English Channel. We have other things that bug us, of course.
But the scars of the Japanese occupation have yet to fully heal in Korea. So "Sea of Japan" still rankles.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
