The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1938. ARMISTICE IN FAR EAST.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 189, 12 August 1938, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 12, 1938. ARMISTICE IN FAR EAST.

For the cauee that lack* assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance. For the future in the distance, And the good that tee can do.

Fighting has ceased on the Soviet-Korea, border, and the opposing troops, in " wary watchfulness," are standing by while the diplomats of their respective countries arrange for a commission to define the dubious frontier line. We may well wonder why they did not set up such a commission long ago. Proposals to that end have been made following some of the numerous frontier " incidents" of the past, but the state of animosity between the Soviet and Japan has been so pronounced that nothing game of them. Now, after bloodshed, the sending of strong reinforcements by both sides, and a " war scare," the thing is to be done. Whether the joint commission, whieh is not to have a neutral arbitrator, will reach agreement, or whether, before it begins its work, the tension on the frontier will find

relief in further hostilities, it is impossible to say; the prospect in either direction is far from bright. It remains true, however, that whether or not either Power wants a war, neither can afford it at this time, and for that reason the armistice may endure. The happenings in Germany, reported this week, suggest that the interest of those watching international affairs may soon be distracted from the Far East to Central Europe.

The consequences of the hostilities now stilled may be far-reaching. The Soviet, for whatever reason, but probably because it realised to the full that Japan was at a disadvantage, made a much firmer stand than

|it has made in former disputes. Whether it i" meant business" or not, it obviously convinced Japan that it did. The unyielding spirit of the, forces dominating Japan's Government had to yield something which they would not have yielded had the circumstances been more favourable to them. That will be duly realised throughout Russia, and, through the Soviet's propaganda machine, it will no doubt be used to increase the martial pride of the masses. In Japan the settlement will be more difficult to exploit. According to report® from Tokyo, relief, not exaltation, is felt by. the people—relief at the lessening of |)te

danger of air raids. Whatever the strength and efficiency of the Russian bomber aqnadnni may be, the Japanese people have been convinced, by their' own . .Government's propaganda, that those sqnadrons represent a near and ever-present peri}, and that peril must h&ve seemed imminent in the , last few days. A, world sickened by the . aerial bombing in~ Spain iukd China will'he; glad that the Japanese people have been spared iis horror*: provoked, or did nothing to prevent, the frontier clash because of a wish to embarrass Japan's prosecution of the war in China. Whether that was the design or not, that will eertainly be one result* Throughout the war the Japanese have had to keep strong forces, including ■ some of their best . troops, in Manchuria. Other forces, estimated at 300,000 men, are engaged as garrisons in the occupied, regions of China. The number available for actual fighting is correspondingly reduced. Heneefortk an even closer watch nkni9t be kept' on the Russian border, and Chinese awareness of Japan's difficulty will no doubt result in prolonging and < stiffening their resistance. But, it is not impossible, unless the Japanese armies can win the war this year, that their ominous experience with the Russians will persuade the - Japanese rulers that the campaign in China is becoming a dangerous liability which should be liquidated on the best terms available. Against that possibility maybe set the fact that the.Japanese nation is united in a degree not approached by any other, its spirit is high and its confidence in its destiny undiminished. These national • qualities are imponderable faetors which may be decisive in the struggle, though.it seems certain that Japan cannot win victory without weakening her strength as * first-class Power in .the Pacific.