SHANGHAI MENACED

Grey River Argus, 13 August 1937, Page 9

SHANGHAI MENACED

( JAPANESE LANDED Nankow Attacked JAP. AERIAL STRENGTH. NEAR SHANGHAI. [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] t LONDON, August 11. t It is revealed from Shanghai that , the Japanese have an aircraft-carrier " with sixty planes, within twenty to ! forty miles of Woosung, which fact I they tried to keep secret. After the arrival of a big Japanese naval force at Woosung, the Japanese i Chief of Staff issued the following t statement: “The Chinese provocative, warlike preparations, and the shoot- ' ing of Lieutenant Ohyama, have caused anxiety for the lives and property of Japanese residents. The Third Fleet, therefore, has been increased in strength to the degree necessary solely for keeping guard.” The Fleet, consisting of 20 warships, with the gun-crews ready for action, passed under the loaded guns of the riverside forts, but the Chinese watched them in silence. The warships dropped anchor at Woosung, where already twelve Japanese warships were anchored. JAP. NAVY AT SHANGHAI. SHANGHAI, August 11. | Twenty Japanese warships comprising ships of the First Battle Fleet, arrived at Woosung, near Shanghai. A Crisis Near CHINESE CONCENTRATION. AROUND SHANGHAI. LONDON, August 11. A telegram received at Tokio from Shanghai states that 100,000 Chinese soldiers now surround the city. Ten thousand Chinese militiamen are stationed within the prohibited area covered by the truce agreement of 1932. The “Telegraph’s” Shanghai correspondent points out that a crisis is approaching, during, the indecision of Chiang Kai-shek and other Chinese leaders, who are conferring at Nanking. It only needs one shot from Woosung fort to precipitate an outbreak worse than that in 1932. JAPANESE DEMAND. REJECTED BY CHINESE. LONDON, August 11. The Japanese Admiral demands that all Chinese troops be withdrawn to 30 miles from Shanghai, and all defences within the area dismantled, otherwise the city will be bombarded. The British United Press correspondent at Shanghai says: China rejected the Japanese demand that Chinese withdraw forces from Shanghai. A Foreign Office official at Nanking said that if the Japanese start ' trouble, the Chinese will reply. JAP. MARINES. LAND AT SHANGHAI. SHANGHAI, August 11. Bluejackets from Japanese warships landed at Shanghai . The Shanghai correspondent of “The Times” says: Four thousand marines landed from the Japanese Fleet, bringing the total here to 9,000. Jap Offensive AGAINST NANKOW. THE TOWN ABLAZE. 1 SHANGHAI, August 11. ' A Japanese offensive against Nan- i kow is expected to open shortly. Thousands of troops and enormous 1 convoys of war material are proceed- 1 ing thither. „ i * LONDON, August 12. t A dispatch received from Tokio re? i garding the fighting between the Japanese and the Central Government troops states that Nankow is ablaze. < The British United Press Pekin 1 correspondent, in a message before 1 the fighting, states: Thousands of s Japanese troops and enormous con- £ voys of war material, tanks, artillery, and machine guns left Pekin for Changping, near Nankow, where the Chinese are entrenched. The movements occurred in heat so intense that some Japanese were driven £ mad. £

Another source states that the Japanese on attacking Nankow, met a strong resistance, to which they replied with a bombardment of high explosive incendiary shells, as a resull of which, the town was set on fire. The Japanese advanced on it and occupied positions in the immediate vicinity. PEKIN ISOLATED. LONDON, August 12. A joint cablegram from correspondents states Pekin is still telegraphically and telephonically isolated. Mails are chaotic. Chinese continue to flee from the city. FIGHTING WEST OF PEKIN. LONDON, August 11. Japanese troops encountered Central Government troops, 25 miles north-west of Pekin. A heavy Japanese bombardment is proceeding. RUSSIAN LEGATION THREATENED. PEKIN, August 11. Anglo-American and Franco-Italian and Japanese Embassy Guards sent a contingent to patrol the Soviet Legation, which is threatened by the White Russians. Tientsin reports state that the Japanese have notified the authorities that they are taking over the telegraph and wireless installations in the British and French concessions. CHINESE IN JAPAN TO BE TAKEN HOME. [Aust. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] SHANGHAI, August 11. The Chinese Government has decided to evacuate Chinese residents in Japan. | 'Tokio also learns from Nanking that the Chinese Government has de-

cided to instruct its Consuls at Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki, to send the Chinese residents there, home in six steamers, which the Chinese Government is chartering. INQUEST ON CHINESE SENTRY. LONDON, August 12. In the presence of Chinese and Japanese representatives, a post-mortem examination was held at Shanghai, on the Chinese militiaman, whose body was found near Lieutenant Ohyama. Reports, signed by the Cninese Coroner, established that tne militiaman was killed by rifle and machine-gun shots. It is therefore claimed that he was the victim of shots fired by his fellow-militiamen, and not by revolver shots fired by Ohyama or Saito. JAPANESE OFFICERS. LONDON, August 11. The Japanese Embassy at London states that the body of Ohyama had eighteen bullet wounds, and sword gashes, and he had also been clubbed. The skull was smashed. Saito was shot dead in the back of the head, and he was clubbed, bayonetted and robbed. N.Z. CHINESE SEND £lO,OOO DONATION. WELLINGTON, August 11. Referring to the report from Auckland that £lO,OOO had hern raised by Chinese subjects in New Zealand for the support of their country in the event of war with Japan, Mr. William Kwok, president of the isew Zealand Chinese Association, said to-day that not a quarter of that sum had been raised. The purpose of the collection was not for war, but simply for the relief of homeless and suffering refugees from the bombarded cities of Tientsin and Pekin. The Chinese quarters of these cities had been razed to the ground and more than 100,000 persons were acutely distressed.