JAPAN’S ALLIES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 5, 17 October 1940, Page 8

JAPAN’S ALLIES.

SUPPLIES OF MUNITIONS TO HER Enemy. ON THE BURMA ROAD. That:the other signatories of the recent tripartite pact had been doublecrossing Japan by supplying munitions to her. enemies was asserted by Sir Ernest Roberts," Chief- J ustice of Burma, at present visiting Wellington. He had some interesting comment to make on the disputed Burma Road. , Even up to 12 months ago Germany and Italy, while professing strong friendship for Japan, were cynically /supplying war materials and machinery over the Burma Road to Japan’s enemies in China, said Sir Ernest. ~ Some of these goods wore landed at Rangoon but most were taken up the Irawadi River to Mandalay. When there a year ago he saw not only very large quantities of goods useful, for war purposes from Britain, France and Russia, but :ilso machinery for China distinctly marked with the names of German and Italian firms.

Whether the Burma Road could be blocked by Japanese aircraft depended, of course, on the extent and accuracy of the bombing, but there was an unlimited supply of coolie labour to repair any damage done. He could not speak from a personal knowledge of the road as a whole, because lie bad travelled over only 40 miles of it from the-Burma end, but friends who knew the whole route had tokl him that it went through precipitous country and that in the rainy season it was subject to damage bv -slips and was probably then impassable. It rould be by no means a good road. It was narrow, and the far from good surface was affected by the wear and tear of very heavy motor-lorry traffic. There would he a good deal of tension in Burma over the present situation, but he was certain there would be no panic, said Sir Ernest. After all,, only a small length of the lndoChinq -frontier touched Burma, and, apart from that, the'two States were separated by Siam, now known as Thailand, which acted as a buffer (State.