British Opinion Optimistic

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 183, 5 August 1938, Page 7

British Opinion Optimistic

Japs Are Mainly to Blame Received Thursday, 9.20 p.m. LONDON, August 4. Despite the more serious tone of the reports from Tokio and Moscow, the impression still prevails in official London circles that any grave extension of the Russian-Japanese border dispute is improbable, says the foreign editor of the NewsChronicle. It is all a question of whether the rival commanders on the spot can keep a sense of proportion. On the evidence available in London, says the Times, diplomatic British experts are inclined to believe the Japanese arc mainly to blame in attacking Changkufeng which, it seems clear, has been Russian territory for many years. There is some surprise at the number of Japanese troops who cither accidentally or conveniently are at hand. Clearly a large part of the Japanese army has not been carried down-stream into the Chinese war. The Moscow correspondent of the Times reports that the general atmosphere tends to show that the Soviet Government considers the conflict ■will be settled or remain in abeyance like dozens of lesser Russian-Japanese disputes. The official Russian view appears to be that a settlement would not be difficult.