Pacific “Teetering on Brink of War”

Manawatu Times, Volume 66, Issue 265, 7 November 1941, Page 5

Pacific “Teetering on Brink of War”

MORE PRESS WARNINGS TO AMERICA United Press Association—fry Kleitrlo Telegraph—Copyright. TOKIO, Nov. 5., Tho former Japanese Ambassador to Berlin, Mr. Kurusu, is being sent to the United States “to arrive at the earliest possible settlement, in view of the prevailing international situation.” He left last night for Hongkong, where special arrangements were made to delay the Pan-American Airways Clipper so that he could travel by it.

It is stated that his visit is to assist Admiral Nomura, Japanese Ambassador to Washington, but the appointment recalls persistent reports that Admiral Nomura is to be recalled.

Well-informed circles in Tokio said it would be more accurate to say that Mr. Kurusu would seek the earliest possible decision, meaning that Japan was not capitulating, but rather that she was seeking an immediate clarification ot whether further Japanese American conversations would be futile.

Meanwhile, the Japanese press continues its attacks on the United States, which is accused of being insincere in its negotiations with Japan. The Japan Times and Advertiser, organ of the Tokio Foreign Office, says; “The Pacific is teetering on the brink of war. America is the one which has taken the line of attack. America must immediately start making amends. Japan is determined to act boldly for her .self-existence. America can take the right turn of the road or face the Alternative.”

The Nichi Nichi Shimbun give* prominence to a Shanghai dispatch alleiging that 700,000 Chinese troops are concentrated on the border of Yunnan Province and Indo-China on plans based on American advice. The Chinese are also reported to have concentrated troops along the Burma Road, the paper adds. Well-informed circles in Chungking, the Chinese capital, prophesy that Japan’s next move in the Far East is likely to be an attempt to crush Chinese resistance but cutting her two vital supply lines from the democracies. According to a Reuter report from Chungking, Japan is planning two thrusts, one from the Yellow River in the direction of the Szechuan Province, and the other north from Indo-China in the hope of cutting the Burma Road. Chungking reports 1 that Japanese troops in Indo-China have already been increased, and that Japanese forces are trying to drive the Chinese from the east bank of the Yellow River, where a struggle is still going on. Chinese troops have been brought up to the border of Yunnan and IndoChina, and more are being sent up. It is also reported that the reason for the special sessions of the Japanese Diet, in the middle of this month, will be to budget for the campaign.