Japan after anti-whaling group's funding, WikiLeaks cables show

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The lawlessness of the sea has served Paul Watson well. Whether the Canadian wildlife activist is hurling red paint at Japanese whaling ships, or steering his Zodiac into the path of an oncoming Russian harpoon vessel, Mr. Watson excels at using tactics on the water that would likely lead to his arrest on land.

But that has not stopped his fiercest opponents, the Japanese government, from trying to use a more complicated area of the law - taxation - to attack him and his non-profit conservation group.

According to classified diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, high-level Japanese officials have lobbied United States diplomats several times in the past year or so, urging them to revoke the tax-exempt status of Mr. Watson's Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Mr. Watson's group, which is famous for corralling Japanese whaling ships and disrupting their hunts, relies heavily on tax-deductible donations to fund its missions. As the society has exploded in popularity, thanks in part to Whale Wars, the reality television show devoted to its high seas activism, the Japanese have tried to hit the charity where it hurts - in its bank account.

At a November, 2009, meeting between a United States diplomat and Shuji Yamada, a vice minister in Japan's fisheries agency, Mr. Yamada made inquiries about an "investigation into the tax status" of Mr. Watson's charity, according to the leaked cables.

Another cable shows that a week later, Japan's director-general of fisheries, Katsuhiro Machida, told the U.S. commissioner to the International Whaling Commission that he "appreciates the [U.S. government's]initiative" to pull the tax-exempt status of Mr. Watson's organization. In response, U.S. commissioner Monica Medina reportedly replied that she hopes her government can "demonstrate the group does not deserve tax exempt status based on their aggressive and harmful actions."

The quiet campaign against his organization's finances came as a surprise to Mr. Watson, who was reached on his ship, the Steve Irwin - one of three society vessels presently pursuing a Japanese whaling fleet in Antarctic waters.

"[Ms. Medina]has no authority to go after a U.S. non-government organization's tax status based on an accusation from a foreign country," he said. "There's no basis for her to state that she could do that."

Mr. Watson, who was one of the early members of Greenpeace and broke ranks with the organization because of disagreements about tactics, said Sea Shepherd exists only because of donations, 30 per cent of which come from the United States. The organization is not recognized as a charity by the Canada Revenue Agency. He said his agency has been audited twice by the Internal Revenue Service and that its books are "impeccable." The majority of donations come from European countries, he said.

Mr. Watson, who was born in Toronto and worked with the Canadian Coast Guard as a young man, accused the United States and Ms. Medina of trying to use his organization as a bargaining chip to win concessions from the Japanese, who have long resisted international efforts to clamp down on whaling. Along with Norway and Iceland, Japan routinely relies on what are known as "research exemptions" to get around international bans on the practice. Critics charge that such research missions are mere cover for large-scale commercial whaling operations.

In the frequent clashes between Sea Shepherd vessels and Japanese boats, there are frequent accusations of violence and wrongdoing from both sides - all of which are difficult to verify because of the remote locations where the confrontations unfold. When he was reached Monday, Mr. Watson was 2,400 kilometres southwest of New Zealand.

In February, one of his crew members, New Zealander Pete Bethune, pulled alongside a Japanese whaling ship on his Zodiac, boarded it and attempted to lay a citizen's arrest against its captain. He was brought back to Japan and convicted of multiple offences, including trespassing, and given a two-year suspended sentence.

Mr. Watson's group, which is publicly supported by Canadian author and conservationist Farley Mowat, as well as Anthony Kiedis, the lead singer of the popular funk rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, is known for its take-no-prisoners approach to conservation. The organization's current Antarctic campaign, which includes 88 crew members and a 17-person film crew, is called "Operation No Compromise."

"We found them on New Year's Eve and they've been running ever since," Mr. Watson said. "We've chased them 800 miles south. We don't mind. As long as they're running, they're not killing whales."