SIGNIFICANT PACT

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 308, 27 November 1936, Page 7

SIGNIFICANT PACT

ANTI-COMMUNIST MOVE. BRITISH SILENCE. ADHERENCE NOT EXPECTED. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) LONDON, Nov. 25. The British Government maintains silence about the Japanese-German agreement against the Communist International, wliich was signed at Berlin in the presence of photographers and newsreel men, but it is certain that it does not intend to join it. Russia also at present is silent, and may take refuge in the fact that the agreement does not specify the Soviet out the Comintern, for which the Soviet Government always declares it is not responsible. France resents the agreement, which Italy blesses without formal adherence. There is no indication that any Power will respond to the invitation contained in the agreement to, join the signatories. The Times expresses the opinion that it is more than probable that the agreement is not the whole story, and behind its unimpeachable doctrinaiie facade exists some form of military alliance. It says that, however despicable the activities of the Comintern may be, the formation of an antiCommunist bloc is both regrettable and unnecessary. Britain will certainly preserve her detachment. The Rome correspondent of the Times says that authoritative opinion does not expect Italy formally to join the agreement. It is considered that the understanding reached during Count Ciano’s visit to Berlin requires no amplification, while, as regards Japan, the paucity of Italian interests in the Pacific makes it unnecessary again to emphasise her known views toward the Communist menace. The Paris correspondent of the Times says it is believed that Germany may be counting on the .adhesion of Italy, Austria, Hungary, Portugal and General Franco’s Government, but once again French apprehensions find relief in the firmness with which British opinion refuses to be drawn into active partnership with one form of dictatorship against another. The vast majority of Frenchmen look to Britain more than ever as the one great stable and stabilising force in Europe. MOSCOW WARNED. Tlie Tokio correspondent of the Times says that wherever Russia’s political aims conflict with Japan’s and Germany’s Moscow must henceforth reckon on two opponents. The agreement is a warning to Russia that interference with Japan in the Far East will bring trouble with Germany. The Morning Post’s diplomatic correspondent states that the British Government will emphatically reject the invitation extended in the GermanJapanese agreement to join in the crusade against Communism. The British' Government regard this aspect of the agreement with the strongest disapproval as calculated to further aggravate the international situation. A Paris message says a section of the Press persists in the assumption that there are secret clauses in the agreement. L’Oeuvre suggests that Whitehall is concerned because the protocol allows a German-Japan share in the zones of influence in the Dutch East Indies. This directly affects Singapore economically, if not otherwise.