JAPAN WARNED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 120, 19 April 1940, Page 7

JAPAN WARNED

NETHERLANDS INDIES. AMERICAN STATEMENT. STATUS QUO ESSENTIAL. (United Press Association —By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.) WAS-IiINGTOiN, April IS. The United States warns foreign nations to respect the status quo in the Netherlands East Indies, regardless of what happens to the Netherlands. The Secretary of State (Mr Cordell Hull) replying to Mr Arita (Japanese Foreign Minister), who made a statement interpreted to mean that Japan would not move at present if other Powers refrained, declared : “Intervention in the domestic affairs of the Netherlands Indies or any alteration in their status quo by other than peaceful processes will be prejudicial to the stability, peace and security of the entire Pacific.” Any change in the status of the Indies, Mr Hull added, would directly affect the interests of many countries. The Indies were very important in international relationships over the whole Pacific Ocean, and also an important factor in the commerce of the whole world. They produced considerable portions of the world’s supplies of essential commodities such ns rubber, tin, quinine, and copra, and many countries, including the United States, depended substantially upon them for some of these commodities. Air Hull said it was firmly resolved to respect the rights of the Netherlands in their insular possessions in the Pacific Ocean. A copy of Air Hull’s statement has been handed to the Japanese Foreign Office. POLICIES COMPARED. Due to the promptness with which Mr Hull clarified the United States’ position in the light of Mr Arita’s statement, it is believed that American policy toward the situation in the Pacific is hardening. An eight-column streamer headline across the front page of the New York Herald-Tribune—-“Hull warns Japan not to take Dutch East Indies”—indicates the importance that is placed on the statement. It is interpreted as intended to forestall developments precipitating an emergency. While both the United States and Japan now have declared for maintenance of the status quo, their statements are pitched on different planes which.may prove significant. Mr Arita declared for the status quo because of close relations between the Dutch East Indies and Japan. Air Hull spoke from the standpoint of international interests. The gravity of the situation is indicated by the State Department taking the unusual step of issuing a formal statement without awaiting official word from Tokio as to whether Japan’s intentions were honourable or acquisitive. POSSIBLE MOVES. The Shanghai correspondent of the Associated Press of America says reports of Allied naval officers state that a number of factors favour the- likelihood of a Japanese swoop on the Dutch East Indies, coinciding with a German invasion of the Netherlands, chief of them being Japan’s unconcealed ambition to control the oil, rubber and tin in the Indies. The officials added that if the Dutch East Indies were grabbed, Japan’s dream of dominating the Western Pacific and ousting the European colonial Powers would be on the way toward realisation overnight. The Japanese navy is cocky and full of fivlit, savs the correspondent, and it believes it could subjugate the Indies uetore England and France got into action. It feels that if the American public was presented with a fait accompli, the United States would not retaliate. Japanese political agents are conducting an anti-Dutch campaign among the natives, thousands of whom belong to pro-Japanese pan-Asiatic societies. TOICIO ASSURANCE. Amplifying Mr Arita’s declaration, the Navy’s vice-spokesman (Commander jvanoe) said that Japan’s policy was based on non-involvement in the European war, and the Navy was greatly concerned as any change in the situation of the Dutch East Indies would mean an extension of the war to that part of the world, to which the Navy very strongly objected. Directing attention to the American interest in Greenland, he said: “It is quite natural that Japan is similarly concerned with the situation. Moreover, Japan’s vital interests in the Dutch East Indies are incomparably greater than America’s in Greenland.” He reiterated that Japan’s interests in the South Sea region, including the Dutch East Indies, were economic and without territorial designs. He added that it was impossible to tell, what would happen next or what sudden development would confront Japan. For this reason it was deemed advisable to announce her attitude in advancc. t .., , An Admiralty spokesman said that development of the natural resources in the East Indies must he made,by all means, hut Japan had no territorial designs there. MR HULL’S STATEMENT. ENDORSED BY PRESIDENT. Received April 19. 10.15 a.m. WASHINGTON, April 18. President Roosevelt at a Press conference, endorsing Mr Hull’s statement, added: “The disturbance of the status quo in the Netherlands Indies would prejudice the peace and security of the entire Pacific area.” NO “PROTECTION.” NETHERLANDS ADAMANT; Received 19. 10.20 a.m. THE HAGUE, April 18. It is announced that the Government has informed Japan that Holland will never accept a foreign offer of protection for the East Indies.