ANGLO-JAPANESE RELATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 23350, 21 August 1939, Page 9

ANGLO-JAPANESE RELATIONS

REVIEW OF FAR EAST SITUATION BRITAIN'S ATTITUDE IN TOKIO TALKS (British Official WiTelcss.) Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright RUGBY, August 20. (Received August 21, at noon.) “ For this purpose it would presumably be necessary for both Governments to consult with and have regard to the views of third parties. Britain has indicated to Japan that it has no desire to shelve the questions which have been raised, and it realises that these matters will require to be fully discussed in any ultimate settlement of the present dispute in China. Britain has already made it clear in a Note to Japan on January 14 that it does not regard the treaties as eternal, and that it was prepared to consider any constructive proposals which Japan may have to make regarding modification of the existing treaties. Britain considers it essential, however, that all parties to the NinePower and other treaties which govern the situation in China shall be enabled at the appropriate time to express their views and make a contribution to a settlement which should be equitable for all concerned.”

The Foreign Office issued the following statement clarifying the position reached in the Tokio talks :—“ On June 27, as the result of an exchange of views between Britain and Japan, it was agreed that conversations should take iplace in Tokio in order to effect a settlement of various questions relating to present conditions in Tientsin. As announced by Mr Chamberlain in the House of Commons on July 24, preliminary conversations between Sir Robert Craigie and Mr Arita began on July 15. At the outset of the discussion Japan expressed the opinion that if progress were to be made in removal of misunderstandings and the establishment of better relations it wqs essential to recognise the background against which the situation in Tientsin should be viewed. In order to meet this view Britain agreed upon the following formula;—Britain fully recognises the actual situation in China, where largescale hostilities are in progress, and notes that as long as that state of affairs continues to exist Japan’s forces in China have special requirements for the purpose of safeguarding their own security and maintaining public order in regions under their control, and that they have to suppress or remove any such acts or causes as will obstruct them or benefit their enemy. Britain has no intention of countering any act or measures prejudicial to the attainment of the above-mentioned objects by the Japanese forces, and Britain will take this opportunity of confirming its policy by making it plain to the British authorities and to British nationals in China that they should refrain from such acts or measures. POLICE CONTROL MATTERS. “On the same day conversations were begun in Tokio between Britain and Japan, and certain proposals were put forward by Japan as a basis for discussion. The majority of these proposals refer to police matters, and provide for closer co-operation between the authorities of the British Concession in Tientsin and the Japanese array of occupation in North China for the purposes of suppressing terrorist acts and maintaining law and order, and inasmuch as these proposals do not affect the administrative integrity of the concession and generally conform with the practice already in force at Shanghai, Britain has now made considerable progress towards an agreement, subject to a final settlement on certain points of detail. CURRENCY PROPOSALS. “In addition to the proposals on police matters, Japan put forward certain proposals which included enforcement by the British authorities of regulations prohibiting the use of Chinese national currency within the concession and the removal of certain silver reserves from the concession in Tientsin and from the diplomatic quarter at Peking. It was at once apparent to Britain that the scope of these proposals was not confined to purely local issues at Tientsin, and that they related to other economic and financial features of the present situation in North China, including certain measures of restriction placed upon exchange and trade on which the views not only of Britain but of certain other Governments had already been communicated to Japan.” “ It also became clear as a result of careful scrutiny of the position that Britain could not, even if she wished, conclude a bilateral agreement which might affect the position of other Powers without the consent of those Powers. For this reason Britain had come to the conclusion that it cannot by itself properly put forward or accept any proposals on matters of this nature which might prejudice the interests of third parties, and Britain, therefore, intimated to Japan that no discussions on the economic proposals put forward by the latter can in its view lead to any useful result on a purely Anglo-Japaneso basis. Britain, however, expressed its willingness to examine the position afresh provided the interests of all parties can be safeguarded.”

JAPANESE VIEWPOINT BAN ON CURRENCY ISSUES NOT JUSTIFIED. TOKIO, August 20. (Received August 21, at 2 p.m.) A Foreign Office statement recalling the issues at the Anglo-Japanese conference reiterates that the Japanese demands do not exceed the scope of the conference, for which reason the banning of the currency, silver, and other questions because they are not local at Tientsin is not justified. Britain at the outset of the conference did not intend to exclude economic questions. She now, in a contradictory way, son's

tends that they should he solved in relation to the ultimate settlement of the Sino-Japanese dispute. Japan does not comprehend how a discussion on the Nine-Power Treaty could be useful in settling the Tientsin issues and will never admit the intervention of a third Power, which would only lead to delays and complications.