Countries are voting on the issue at the International Whaling Commission's 57th Annual Meeting in Ulsan, South Korea from June 20th to 24th.

A Chinese environmental official Meng Xianlin says China wants to uphold the ban on whaling and calls for them to be better protected.

Japan is also seeking to expand its own research whaling activities which kill hundreds of whales each year. The Commission's 61 members banned commercial whaling in 1986 but its regulations allow limited hunting for scientific research.

Anti-whaling countries led by Australia condemn research quotas as a guise for commercial whaling, notably by Japan, Iceland and Norway.

The International Foundation for Animal Welfare finds that these three countries have killed 20,000 whales since 1987 and another 1,400 will die this year.

Japan is unlikely to overturn the ban which needs the support of three-quarters of members but a limited expansion is possible.

Australia's Environment Minister Ian Campbell is rallying Asian countries to continue the ban on commercial whaling. He wants to turn the IWC into a conservation body and establish a Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. But he conceded Thursday that the anti-whaling camp may be a few votes short of a victory.

Japan argues that whale hunting is part of its culture and that the thriving whale population is eating up its fish stocks.

A Japanese Councillor declared in May that at least half of the Commission members will back Japan's plans to extend whale hunting.

The remarks have triggered criticisms from Australia, Britain, the U.S., and New Zealand.

(Photo Source: AFP)