The Press WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1939. Russia, Japan, and China

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22850, 25 October 1939, Page 8

The Press WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1939. Russia, Japan, and China

The news from the Far East becomes increasingly difficult to fit into an intelligible pattern. On September 10, the new Japanese Prime Minister, General Abe, emphatically rejected a proposal by the German Government that Japan should seek an agreement with Russia on the lines of the Russo-German agreement.

Herr von Ribbentrop [said General Abe] distineuishes ■ the Comintern from the Russian Government. He emphasises the possibility ot distinguishing a Russo-Japanese non-aggression pact from the spirit of, the _ Anti-Comintern Pact. Such remarks are questionable and run counter to Japan’s intentions.

In the last few days the news from China and Japan has supported the hypothesis of an irreconcilable clash of ideas and national interests between Russia and Japan. There have been persistent reports of the arrival in Chungking of a Russian military mission and of a breakdown in negotiations for an adjustment of the frontier between Manchukuo and Outer Mongolia, where, until a month ago! Japanese and Russian armies were fighting a full-sized war. But the cable news this morning contains a denial by the spokesman of the Japanese Foreign Office that there has been any breakdown in the frontier negotiations. The spokesman adds that the Japanese Government is “ still attempting to, “normalise relations between Japan and “Russia” and that “he saw no inconsistency “in this, as the Soviet Government was dis- “ sociated from the Comintern.” The apparent contradiction between this statement and the statement by General Abe on September 10, and between increased Russian assistance to Marshal Chiang Kai-shek and Japan’s professed intention to “ normalise ” her relations with Russia, can be explained away only on the assumption that, in the Far East, both Japan and Russia are pursuing limited and temporary objectives. Since the beginnihg of the China “ incident,” the campaign against Marshal Chiang Kai-shek has been fought mainly by reservists, whose morale and discipline have deteriorated alarmingly under the strain of a war which imposes severe hardships and shows no signs of drawing to an end. Japans best troops have been immobilised on the borders of Manchukuo and in Inner Mongolia in expectation of a war with Russia. Her anxiety to conclude the campaign against Marshal Chiang Kai-shek in the shortest possible time by a decisive military blow or by negotiations with the Chungking Government or by a combination of both may make it worth while to seek a settlement of the Mongolian border dispute, thereby releasing troops in this area for service in southern and central China. Russia, for her. part, may find such a settlement convenient for the time being in view of her present preoccupation with the situation in Europe. Though an accommodation of this I sort is necessarily unstable, it may last long enough to serve the immediate purposes of the two countries. Russia is not, after all, in a position to give Marshal Chiang Kai-shek direct military assistance, and'the amount war material she can provide him with is severely restricted by transport difficulties. Moreover, in spite of reports of the presence of a Russian military mission in Chungking, it cannot be tajeen for granted that Russia has definitely and finally decided to support the Chungking Government against Japan.- The possibility suggested by earlier messages from China of a split between the Kuomintang and its Communist allies, who have retained a separate military and political existence, cannot be ignored. '