TIENTSIN CONCESSION

Evening Star, Issue 23292, 14 June 1939, Page 9

TIENTSIN CONCESSION

THREATENED BLOCKADE DANGERS OF ANGUKIAPANESE CLASH A WARNING TO TOXIO Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, June 13. Sir Robert Craigie, Ambassador in Tokio, has been instructed to warn Japan of tho dangers of an Anglo-Jap-aueso clash at Tientsin. The British refusal to hand over four Chinese whom the Japanese allege to he involved in the murder of tho branch manager of the Federal Reserve Bank is a matter of principle, inasmuch as no evidence is forthcoming against them, and surrendering them would create a precedent tending to undermine British influence in treaty ports. The deadlock may be solved by the appointment of an, Anglo-Japanese committee with a neutral chairman.

JAPAN'S PATIENCE EXHAUSTED FURTHER NEGOTIATIONS USELESS TOKIO, June 13. (Received June >l4, at 8 a.m.) Cabinet met to consider the situation in Tientsin. The Japanese Spokesman stated that Japan’s patience was exhausted, and further negotiations with Britain would be useless. The War Office issued a pamphlet stating that another two or three years would bo necessary to suppress the antiJapanese armies in China. The entire nation must be placed on a footing to conduct a long-range war. It adds that Japan must simultaneously engage in an ideological battle with Russia and fight those third Powers which are assisting China economically and diplomatically.

PROTEST BY CHINA CHUNGKING, June 13. (Received June 14, at 8 a.m.) The British United Press Agency, says the Chinese Foreign Office is reported to have protested to the British Embassy against the action of the British in Tientsin in handing over two Chinese terrorists to the Japanese. BRITISH OFFICER DETAINED HONGKONG, June 13. The British United Press reports that the Japanese detained Major E. L. Law, of the Hongkong Mule Corps, for allegedly taking films in a prohibited area. BLOCKADE PROCLAMATION ALL TRAFFIC BANNED. ’TOKIO, June 13. (Receive June 14, at 10 a.m.) The proclamation of the Tientsin blockade bans all traffic between the Japanese concession, the Chinese quarters, and the British and French concessions. The international bridge will be closed from 6 a.m. to midnight, and roads to and from the British and French concessions from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pedestrians and vehicles are liable to search. Shipping on the Pei River has been ordered to heave to for

inspection. Violations of this demand will be dealt with as stipulated by the commander of the Japanese army.

The army Spokesman said: “The question cannot now be settled by the mere transfer of the wanted men. The army will never bury the hatchet unless the authorities of the British concession reconsider their attitude and co-operate in the construction of a new order in East Asia and abandon their pro-Kai-shek policies.’’

Commodity prices in Tientsin are up 20 per cent.