BORDER FIGHTING.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 61, Issue 253, 7 August 1941, Page 5

BORDER FIGHTING.

- JAPANESE CLASHES. i _______ SOVIET AID TO CHINA. LONDON, August 6. Military intelligence reports reaching Shanghai confirm that there has been sporadic fighting on the SovietManchukuan border in the last three weeks. The most serious fighting was last week, when foreigners say numerous Japanese casualties were arriving at Harbin. Apparently the Russians are adopting their old tactics of sending patrols of between 300 and 400. men across the border in an effort to capture Japanese officers to obtain military information which would he useful in the event of a crisis. The Shanghai correspondent of the Associated Press of Great Britain reports that a Japanese military spokesman stated that a clash, between Japanese and Soviet border troops occurred a fortnight ago. The border has been quiet since. The Chungking correspondent of the “New York Times” says that reliable quarters there reveal that continued Soviet aid is being given to China, in spite of Russia’s preoccupation with the German war. Russian pilots and a new consignment of Russian aeroplanes are being sent to China. Meanwhile, shipment over the north-west highway of artillery, gasoline? and ammunition continues.

The Soviet Ambassador to Japan (M. ■Smetanin) conferred for an hour yesterday with Admiral Toyoda (Japanese Foreign, Minister).