JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER

Kaikoura Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 57, 24 July 1944, Page 3

JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER

TOJO REMOVED AS CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF. NEW YORK, July 19. The announcement that the Japanese Prime Minister (General Tojo) “has been removed as Chief of the Japanese General Staff” was made by the Tokio official radio yesterday. Tojo is to be succeeded by General Yoshijiro Umezu, who has been commander of the Kwangtung army and Ambassador to Manehukuo since September, 1939. No explanation for the move was

given, but it is known that the capture of Saipan by the Americans— bringing the war virtually to Japan’s door—has caused widespread alarm in Japan. The radio announcemnt made no mention of Tojo’s portfolios as Prime Minister, Minister of War, Minister of Commerce, and Minister of Munitions. The United States Secretary of State (Mr Cordell Hull) at a press conference, said that the displacement of Tojo as Chief of Staff indicated serious Japanese concern over developments in the Pacific war.

Qualified naval experts observe that there is no sign that Tojo has taken a back seat. They say the move should be regarded rather as a strean>lininj of the top echelons of the Japanese war machine for future action.

Diplomatic observers contend that Tojo’s removal may be the prelude io his displacement as Prime Minister, possibly preparing the way for elaborate enemy peace manoeuvres. The Associated Press says that General Nmezu has long been one of the powers of Japanese military leadership, and has been associated especially with the expansionist adventures on the Asiatic continent. He directed of the intrigues which led to the ChineseJapanese War in 1937. Since 1939 he has been Japanese Ambassador in Manchukuo and virtual ruler of Manchukuo.

The New York Tinies, in a leading article, suggests that the changes in the Japanese Navy and High Command may be linked with a report from Rome that the Japanese Ambassador to the Vatican has started a peace propaganda campaign. The Tokio radio stated that a report from Romje that the Japanese Minister to the Vatican had informed the Pope that Japan was ready/o talk peace under certain conditions was so absurd that it was not worth the trouble of denying it. Admiral Yorio Sawamoto, Vice-Min-ister of War, has been appointed commander of the Kure Naval Station, succeeding Admiral Nomura, who replaces Admiral Shimada as Minister of the Navy.

The Washington correspondent of the New York Timses says: “While regarding Tojo’s resignation as symptomatic of trouble in the Japanese Government structure, Washington officials express the opinion that Japan’s defeats have stirred the armed services to bolster their organisations. The changes do not necessarily forecast a change of tactics, but rather the implementation of a strategy developed before the war. However, no shift of the Japanese hierarchy can affect the Allies, who now have the Pacific. It is assumed that Tojo should logically have made a separate appointment to the post of Chief of the General Staff earlier, but was unable to do so because of internal difference among his clique over the choice of an officer they could support. Now, presumably, the Japanese defeats have forced the submergence of these internal differences.”

IS JAPAN COLLAPSING? NEW YORK, July 20. The Chungking correspondent of the United Press says: “Informed circles are of opinion that the Japanese Cabinet crisis is the result of military reverses. They say it is possible that the new Government will begin a peace infensive directed against America and also possible that Japan will surrender even before the collapse of the Germans.”