VESSELS RECALLED

Evening Post, Volume CXXXII, Issue 133, 2 December 1941, Page 7

VESSELS RECALLED

PRECAUTIONS TAKEN

PREVENTING TOKIO GAINS

(Rec. 9 a.m.) SHANGHAI, Dec. 1. - It is reliably learned that one Dutch vessel is sailing immediately for Manila without completing unloading its cargo, and that a second Dutch vessel is sailing this afternoon a day ahead of schedule.

A Jardine Mathieson vessel en route to Shanghai has been ordered to return to Hong Kong.

Also all Moller Line vessels in Shanghai have been ordered to leave immediately for Hong Kong. All northward sailings have been cancelled.

Informed quarters said this was an effort to prevent any ABCD vessels falling into Japanese hands in the event of an outbrea/c in the Pacific. The British evacuation ship s.s. Anhui, however, is sailing for Hong Kong on' Wednesday carrying fewer than 300 passengers, half of whom are Indians. A total of 1175 Britons originally registered for evacuation, but the passenger list indicates that the Britons and also. Americans are not taking the advice to evacuate seriously.

Military circles discount any move against Siberia since the Japanese forces are at present in winter barracks and Russia has not shown any signs of collapse; therefore it is believed Japan will be very cautious towards Russia until the spring.

A move against Thailand would not give economic advantages, but would be a spring-board against Malaya in the future and also a face-saving device satisfying home opinion and offsetting the collapse of the Washington negotiations.

_ Some people in informed circles believe that Japan will prepare completely for the invasion of Thailand and then await the Nazi capture of Moscow or developments in Libya before moving, when Britain and America might be distracted by a possible Russian collapse.

Virtually all the remaining Japanese in Hong Kong are preparing to depart on tomorrow's jsteamer.