TOKIO TRIAL

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 September 1946, Page 4

TOKIO TRIAL

WAR CRIMES HEARING RESUMED the case against tojo TOKIO, September 18. Opening the charges against General Tojo and other Japanese leaders before the war crimes tribunal, the prosecutor (Mr. Frank Tavenner) said that Tojo was so confident of victory he told Germany in 1940 that he would need only part of Japan’s army to invade and crush the United States. Mr. Tavenner said that Germany at first condemned Japan’s invasion

of Crina, but in 1938 condoned the Japanese conquest of Manchuria, recognising Manchukuo. Germany and Japan then agreed that Russia was their enemy and arranged an exchange of espionage and information about Russia, but when Hitler signed the non-aggression pact with the Soviet in 1939 Japan’s leaders were terrified, and later were worried lest the advancing, conquering Germany would envelop Indo-China and Siam which Japan wanted for herself. “Therefore, to ' satisfy Germany, Japan informed Berlin that she was keeping the United States Fleet worried in the Pacific,” continued Mr. Tavenner. “About the same time Tojo told von Ribbentrop there was no cause for concern as to fighting the United States on land.

Germany insisted that Japan should capture Singapore to weaken Britain and keep the United States preoccupied in the Pacific and also asked that she should be first to fight Russia before attacking the French, Dutch, and British colonies. “The Japanese leaders, however, were bent on going southward and boasted that Singapore would be seized in grand style from the sea and land. Later the Japanese policy changed, and they made the fateful decision to attack Pearl Harbour.” Mr. Tavenner asserted that Lieu-tenant-General Oshima, the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, and also Shiratori, the Ambassador to Italy, double-crossed Tokio by adviisng Germany to jockey Japan into the war.