WARNING TO BRITAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 81, 5 April 1940, Page 7

WARNING TO BRITAIN.

Japanese Threat If Blockade Is Instituted. AGAINST VLADIVOSTOCK. (Received I.SO p.m.) TOKYO, April 4. Tin , spokesman of the Japanese Admiralty warned the British Navy not to institute a blockade of Yludivostock. He added that in the event of illegalities the Japanese Navy might be compelled to take measures. He said the Japanese Navy strongly objected to the extension of the war to I the waters near Japan. Although the Japan Sea was not territorial waters, in Japanese eyes it was a Japanese lake. The spokesman added that the United States naval manoeuvres east of Hawaii were open to criticism as aggression against Japan. The United States was brandishing a big sword near Japanese territory, and the Japanese people were understandably uneasy. It is learned in official circles in London in reference to the hope Japan expressed that Britain would avoid naval action near Japanese shares that there is no intention of Britain committing any illegal action, but it is impossible to forego legal rights as a belligerent, and she intends to exercise them when necessary. ECONOMIC STRUCTURE. JAPAN WEAKENED BY WAR. WASHINGTON, April 4. The Commerce Department says a i survey indicates that the war in China is weakening Japan's economic structure seriously. The most obvious signs are the sharp increase in note circulation, the general trend toward inflation, the mounting shortage of commodities, the decline in labour efficiency, and the substantial increase in the national debt.