Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1940. CRISIS IN THE EAST.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 60, Issue 252, 1 August 1940, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 1940. CRISIS IN THE EAST.

The arrest of prominent British residents in Japan on charges of complicity in a system of espionage indicates the gravity of the situation in the Far East. The Japanese aim to establish a hegemony in Asia has long been a source of friction with the Occidental Powers interested in China and on several occasions peace has hung on a slender thread. Following the example set not only by her partners in the Axis, but also by the regime against which that pact was directed, Japan is seizing an opportunity to strengthen her position. France is a nonentity, with no power to safeguard her interests, and Britain is facing a crisis that the aggressors consider will prevent her taking adequate steps to check them. A distinctly hos tile attitude to Britain is revealed in the armistice terms which China rejected, for British Burma was offered as part of a Chinese republic under Wang Ching-Wei, the puppet President. If the proposed boundaries were to be established assault on British territory must have been made either by the Japanese or Chinese or both, unless Britain was expected to voluntarily compensate China for part of the loss inflicted on her by Japan. In making the arrests which, as Viscount Halifax has said, are entirely without reason, Japan is again apparently following the European example, providing her own excuse fpr further action. In its representations to Tokio the British Government has emphasised the serious view it takes of the position, with explicit assurances that the British community in Japan has no political organisation. The gravity of the crisis lies in the fact that the Japanese have not accused one or two men of espionage but have gone so far as to implicate over a dozen, alleging that they are members of a network system. The outlook is by no means reassuring, but wise British statesmanship rnay avert developments of grave moment.