PEACE FEELERS

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 162, 11 July 1945, Page 5

PEACE FEELERS

1 JAPANESE TACTICS Psychological Moves By Enemy; Facing Defeat N.Z. Press Association—Copyright Rec. 11. WASHINGTON, July 10. "The Japanese are using purported peace feelers, hoping thereby to cause dissension within the United States and with the Allies," said the acting-Secretary of State, Mr. J. C. Grew. "No thinking American, recalling Pearl Harbour. Wake Island and Manila, will give credence to peace feelers which are the usual moves in psychological warfare by a defeated enemy. The Japanese objective is peace without unconditional surrender,' even though they know unquestionably that defeat is certain." Mr. Grew added that the types of alleged peace feelers were:— (1) Leading Japanese industrialists were mentioned to the State Department as desiring to ascertain the Allies' best conditions for a compromise peace. (2) A neutral diplomat in Tokyo reported that he had been told by a private Japanese individual that the Japanese could not accept unconditional surrender because of loss of face. (3) An unidentified person contacted an American diplomatic mission in a neutral country and claimed to have been authorised to approach the Government with a view to persuading the Allies to drop unconditional surrender and propose terms. (4) A Japanese representative in a neutral country intimated to an American citizen that the real American interests in the Far East should induce the abandonment of unconditional surrender terms. Mr. Grew affirmed emphatically that the United States has not received any peace offer from the Japanese Government, either through official or unofficial channels. "The United States Government's policy has been, is and will continue to be unconditional surrender," Mr. Grew concluded. Tokyo radio reports that Soho Tokutomi, a leading Japanese journalist, writing in the newspaper Mainichi, has criticised the Government's failure to tell the people the stark truth about the loss of vital Pacific islands. Tokutomi recalled that the Japanese authorities said that the loss of such a tiny island as Saipan should not cause worry. Everybody now knew what the loss of Saipan meant to Japan, Tokutomi I added. »