The Auckland Star: WITH which ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1941. RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXII, Issue 87, 14 April 1941, Page 6

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

MONDAY, APRIL 14, 1941. RUSSIA AND JAPAN.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the torong that reeds resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that tee can do.

The signature in Moscow of a "neutrality pact" between Russia and Japan is an event comparable in grave importance with the signature of the pact between Russia and Germany. It is true that' it is less surprising than the Soviet-Nazi pact, for since Japan joined the Axis the possibility of her coming to terms with Russia has been ever more clearly apparent. But still the fact remains that Japan and Russia have long been on terms of enmity, and in Japan at least, and probably in Russia too, war between them has been regarded as an ultimate certainty. The original pact between Germany and Japan, it should be remembered, was the Anti-Comintern Pact, professedly designed against Russia, and when Germany came to terms with Russia Japanese opinion was deeply offended. Russia continued to give moral and some material support to the Chungking Government in its war with the Japanese, and Japan, though desperately anxious to "finish off" that war, did not dare to move the very substantial force which she has maintained on the Russian border. That force has clashed with the Russians before now, and though thefe were no war correspondents present it is believed that the] Japanese had much the worse of the] encounter. But now these two Powers, j both j neutral, have guaranteed peaceful and friendly relations and each other's territorial integrity. Russia will not attack Manchukuo, nor will Japan intrude into Outer Mongolia.

. it is true up to a point that in these times "pacts mean nothing." They are most likely to mean nothing if they are signed by a major dictatorship Power and a small nation, for th,e latter can only hope that the other party will honour its signature., But when a pact is signed by two major Powers its significant reality must be judged by considering whether the interests of both parties are likely to be served by honouring it. The pact signed in Moscow, it is clear, is not an independent deal between Japan and Russia. Mr. Mats'uoka signed it after visiting Berlin and Rome. Japan is a member of the Axis; Russia is not. Russia is obviously concerned by the German incursion into the Balkans, but has done nothing except to utter harmless expressions of disapproval. Because she does not know what lies ahead (or perhaps because she does) it is to her interest to placate Japan, to relieve herself, if possible, of the danger of trouble in Asia as well as in Europe. The pact, if observed, i ensures that.

What does Japan gain under the pact? She gains relief from the always-prevalent fear of Russian air attack on her crowded cities. She gains a freedom of action she has never had before. She gains freedom to embark on new ventures, such new ventures will serve her expansionist policy and at same time weaken Germany's enemies in the Pacific. What those new ventures will be is not certain, but recently there have been some unusually clear indications. There have been conferences in Manila between the British Commander-in-Chief in the Far East, American military and civil authorities and the Ministers of the Netherlands Government. In Hongkong the British Comma remarked: "Hongkong threatens no one—nor did Yugoslavia." Whether and whence Japan moves now will depend principally on the attitude of the United States.