CHINA’S DANGER

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 270, 13 August 1942, Page 5

CHINA’S DANGER

National Attitude To Dispute (Received August 12, 7 p.m.) LONDON, August 11. The Chungking- correspondent of. the Associated Press of Great Britain reports that Mr. Sun Fo, President of the Legislative Yuan, said that Chinese sympathy -was entirely with the Indians. It is understood that the Chinese Press will tomorrow proclaim .its support for the Indian Congress Party leaders and will urge the British to strive for a,peaceful settlement. The correspondent said it was impossible to predict the effect of China’s attitude on Anglo-Chinese relations, but Chinese official reaction was clearly crystalizing in favour of India. The Indian problem is crucial for China because her supply routes are via India.

The Chungking spokesman, asked whether China was willing to mediate in the Indian dispute, replied: “If there is anything China can do, we shall be most glad to do so." He declined to reveal whether Britain had approached Chungking regarding mediation, but said he had accepted an invitation to visit the, Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, shortly. Asked whether he regarded Gandhi’s release as a prerequisite to a British-Indian settlement, he said: “The Chinese Government has no idea of the procedure for reaching a settlement.” Any suggestions now might not be helpful. The spokesman asserted that though legally the Indian problem was a domestic British problem-, it was the moral concern of all the United Nations and bore directly on the future prospects for a better world order. He said it might prove helpful to have a Pacific Charter, in which specific assurances would be given, and he commented that nationalism cannot be suppressed by weapons alone. Asked whether the comments in the Chinese Press which fully supported India’s demand for independence were hurting igino-British relations, he said: "I hope Sino-British relations cannot be affected in the least by any episode.” He warned that a continuation of the disturbances in India would interfere with China’s war supplies, and said that the Chinese Intelligence had indicated that Japan was preparing to attack India in the autumn.

It was reported that Japanese' transports had delivered fresh divisions on July 27 and 28 in Haiphong, Saigon, in Indo-China, where they entrained for Siam and Burma, where they could attack eastern India. Also, the Japanese had concentrated a large group of warships off northern Formosa, probably for an attack on Fukien. The Allied attack on the Solomons, the spokesman said, was a very significant and very timely offensive action and one of the most heartening pieces of news received. SEEN AS COWARDLY

BETRAYAL (Received'August 12, 7 p.m.) LONDON, August 11. Sikander Hyat Khan, Premier of the Punjab, who is visitiug troops in the Western Desert, said: “The unpatriotic attitude of the Congress is a cowardly betrayal of the Motherland and of the hundreds and thousands of our gallant countrymen who are shedding their blood thousands of miles from home to save India from subjugation to Fascism. I am confident that all patriotic Indians wil see to it that, the men fighting our battles are not betrayed.”