WORLD NEWS IN STORY AND PICTURE

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 23, 28 January 1939, Page 19 (Supplement)

WORLD NEWS IN STORY AND PICTURE

THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR JAPAN. "For its part Britain desires to make it clear that Britain intends to adhere to the principles of the Nine-Power Treaty, and cannot agree to unilateral modification of its terms," stated a Note from Great Britain to Japan. "It would point out until the outbreak of the present hostilities the beneticial effects which the treaty was expected to produce were steadily being realised. The Chinese were maintaining and developing for themselves an effective and stable Government, and the principle of equal opportunity for the commerce and industry of all nations was bringing prosperity to China, and to her international trade, including that with Japan." The Note also nays the (government desires to make clear that it is not prepared to accept or recognise certain changes proposed by Japan as regards China and Inner Mongolia, which would be brought about by Japan.--Cable. It looks as though the eve of Japan's day of reckoning may be fai-t approaching. The Chinese military tactician* have now got the Japanese armies where they wanted them, as planned in the original scheme of defensive campaign against an enemy overwhelmingly stronger in force of arme, but weak, by comparison, in numbers.

Br ARPAD SZIGETVARY.

The loss of practically all of the China coast and a great deal of territory along the great rivers to Japan is not to be regarded as a serious matter for China. From the very outset the Chinese, adopting their ancient strategy against an invader, a policy approved of by tlieir German advisers, held on to the main coastal towns as long as they could, offering serious resistance such as the Japanese did not reckon. When the Chinese could no longer hold out against numerically superior armaments and aircraft they quietly retired to |Misitiotis already prepared further inland. And so the process was repeated until the Chinese main forces had reached the comparative security of far inland China, which is a vast national fortress. However, left behind were the guerilla fighters

World Events Explained.

to harass the Japanese, and a mighty good job they have made of it. The Japanese may claim to have captured enormoue areas of China, but the truth is that outside of the larger towns Chinese guerillas and irregular troops are in control. In fact, regular troops are forming behind the Japanese lines. So precarious is the Japanese hold that guerillas periodical!}'' appear at the gatea of Peking. The Chinese state that they could capture Peking, but that it te better from a military point of view to keep the Japanese nerves on end and so wear down their morale. Millions of men were wounded in the Great War, a« statistics show, but there are no figures to show the enormous number, perhaps almost equal, who suffered from shell shock, which, of course affects the nerves. Therefore, to the thousands of Japanese

killed and wounded we must add those suffering from broken nerves through the nerve-wracking tactics of the Chinese guerillas. On the other hand the Chinese are practically free from this form of casualty, which is taking such serious toll of the Japanese. This sort of thing cannot go on indefinitely, as the Japanese have not enough men to withstand such losses. Japan's military position in China is therefore most unhappy and some' what critical. We must also take into consideration the fact that Japan's economic and financial position is becoming increasingly serious. Bo serious is it that if those European nations with money, Great Britain and France, and the United States of America, decided to exert economic pressure on Japan she would soon be brought to her end. And now comes a most important thing which perhaps shows which way the wind is blowing. That is the recent very strong Note addressed by Britain to Japan over the question of trade in China and Japan's territorial claims there, which Britain refuses to recognfee. The Note makes it very clear that Britain is prepared to make a determined stand. Indeed, it almost looks m though Britain was openly prepared to support China.