ARMS FOR CHINA

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20477, 11 February 1941, Page 5

ARMS FOR CHINA

SECRET ROUTES USED BURMA ROAD BRIDGES WRECKED BY BOMBING DEPENDENCE LESSENED (Reed. Feb. 11, 10.30 a.m.) NEW YORK, Feb. 10. The Shanghai correspondent of the Associated Press of America says that considerable quantities of war supplies are reaching tlje interior of China by secret routes from the east coast, thereby lessening China’s dependence on the Burma road. The informants decline to reveal the routes, but it is known that the Japanese drive launched last week northward of Hong Kong was aimed at one of the most important routes running across Waiehow.

The Shanghai correspondent of the New York Times says that Japanese bombers effectively wrecked all the Burma Road bridges crossing the Mekong River and other tributaries.

Despatches declare that the most vital poihts in the Burma Road have been entirely destroyed, including the suspension bridge. Traffic has been reduced to a fraction of its former capacity. Trucks were forced to wait for slow ferries which must cross twice to carry one truck’s load. Trucks are concentrated awaiting a chance to tranship their cargoes.

The situation is so serious that the Chinese Government at Chungking is considering the abandonment of the Burma Road in favour of the Vladi-vostok-Chita-Lanchow route and is even considering a new route over the Tibetan mountains connecting Chungking and Calcutta. Japan’s acquisition of Indo-China bases increases the probability of an attack across Yunnan effectively cutting the Burma road.