ANNEXED BY JAPAN
SHOWN ON MAP AS BRITISH
FRANCE NOTIFIED
(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright.)
(Received April 1, 2.10 p.m.)
TOKIO, March 31
The Foreign Office has informed the French Ambassador that Japan is annexing Spratly, or Storm, Island, which is marked on maps as British. It is a tiny island 500 miles from North Borneo and 400 miles from French Indo-China, and is of considerable strategic value.
The Foreign Office issued a statement that the island, with adjacent reefs, has long been recognised as ownerless. The Japanese began economic development of it in 1917, after which they invested considerable capital and erected permanent establishments. The absence of administrative jurisdiction resulted in inconvenience regarding the protection of the lives and property of Japanese nationals and also caused unnecessary disputes with France. Annexation was decided upon in order to ■ eliminate such disadvantages.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19390401.2.60.1
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 77, 1 April 1939, Page 10
Word Count
139ANNEXED BY JAPAN Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 77, 1 April 1939, Page 10
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