Evening Post FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1941. INCREASING TENSION IN EAST

Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 38, 14 February 1941, Page 6

Evening Post FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1941. INCREASING TENSION IN EAST

From cumulative evidence of all kinds it is becoming increasingly clear that, simultaneously with the latest developments in Europe indicating, in Mr. Churchill's words, that the war was about to enter upon "a phase of greater violence," events in the Far East also are moving to a crisis which must affect this country and Australia. A message from Sydney today states that the Advisory War Council, while it was reviewing the position, "adjourned abruptly and summoned the heads of all the fighting services to meet in Sydney tomorrow." Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham, Commander-in-Chief of the Far East Forces, who is at present on a visit to Australia, will attend. How seriously the situation is regarded in Australia is shown by the joint statement issued by the Acting Prime Minister (Mr. Fadden) and the Leader of ' the Parliamentary Labour Opposition (Mr. Curtin) in which they say:

It is the considered opinion of the War Council that the war has moved to anew stage, involving the utmost gravity.

In this warning to the people of Australia the joint leaders declared that there must be neither delay nor doubt about the "need for the greatest effort for preparedness the country had ever made for its safety and independence." The statement has' received prompt attention in Britain, .where the papers antl the radio give it full .prominence. It need not be emphasised, for the fact is obvious, that what so deeply concerns Australia at this stage is equally vital to New Zealand. Both countries are involved.

No mention is made in the Sydney dispatch of the source of the new danger, but that is not in doubt. There is no danger in the Far East to Australia and New Zealand except from Japan. Since Japan joined the Axis Powers'and formed partite pact last year, with the same ostensible object of a "new order' in East Asia corresponding to the Axis "new order", in Europe^ there has always been the possibility of simultaneous and concerted military action between the three Powers at the appropriate time. At first the attitude of the United States and the influence of the more moderate ele-

ments in Japan exercised a restraining influence. But since the present Japanese Government came into office, under .Prince Konoye as Premier and with Mr. Matsuoka as Foreign Minister, the military party has gained a new ascendancy, and active intervention on the side of the Axis, simultaneously with the launching of a new German offensive in Europe, is a possible factor in the war situation which the British Empire cannot neglect. With the formation of the so-called Japanese National Association to back up a bellicose policy by suppressing democratic ideas, there seems little likelihood now of any internal restraint on this adventure of imperialistic Japan. British newspapers point out the dangers of this new development. "The Times," after remarking that the Japanese war against China is far from finished, adds:

It is hardly credible that responsible statesmen could be so infatuated as to believe that ill success in one war can be retrieved by starting another.

Yet this is precisely what seems to be happening. Like the unfortunate Italy, dragged into the war by Mussolini because he scented a cheap victory, and now faced with the loss of its African empire, Japan has been beguiled by Hitler and Ribbentrop into believing that there ■is spoil to be picked up in the British and Dutch possessions in the Western Pacific while Britain seemingly has her hands full elsewhere. Hitler certainly cares not a jot what Japan may or may not get out of the gamble; all he wants is trouble for Britain and, possibly, America, in the Pacific while he pushes on in Europe and in the Atlantic. But there are two obstacles to the success of the Axis plans in the East and in the West. Britain is ready for contingencies in both places. If Japan is infiltrating into Indo-China and Thailand, Britain is prepared to meet the move from Malaya and Singapore. Nor is it likely that the United States will remain a disinterested spectator of operations. American citizens have already been advised to leave the Far East, and President Roosevelt, while discounting rumours, told his Press conference on Tuesday that if America was forced into war in the Pacific §h$ w©ii]d still maintain Jhei;

full war supplies to Britain. This < alone would defeat Hitler's main purpose of pulling Japan into the war. \ Other factors militate against any! easy success for Japan. In the north the attitude of Russia is still completely obscure, as it is towards the German movements in the Balkans. It is also hardly likely that Japan could conduct a new war without relaxing pressure on China and thus giving Chiang Kai-shek a fresh opportunity of recovering that part of China now in Japanese occupation. But in the meantime the movement of Japanese forces—naval, air, and military—-southward does present dangers of sudden attack in this part of the world, and the warning given Iby its leaders to Australia to be prepared stands also for New Zealand. It should serve not to alarm or dismay the people, but to spur them to close their ranks and prepare in every way possible to meet any emergency that should arise.