Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1941 THREAT TO PEACE IN PACIFIC

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 6 August 1941, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1941 THREAT TO PEACE IN PACIFIC

IN the Far East the situation is now j more delicate than it has ever been. Readers will readily recognise signs j of the tenseness in the news of the past few days, both within New Zealand and from overseas. After a bloodless domination of Indo-China, j Japan now seems resolved to go ahead to secure similar control over Thailand even at the risk of open j conflict. In this she sees a way of pursuing the expansionist policy in south-east Asia to which she is com- i mitted and also a means of getting some relief from the Anglo-Arneri- ( can blockade which is tightening round her. Progress in this direction has already been made by the Japanese. Last week they secured a creditI agreement to facilitate Japanese imports from Thailand. Since then, in spite of Thai professions about wish- : ing to remain friendly with all nations, i j indications have not been wanting | that, either by collaboration or j duress, an attempt is being made to , induce the Thais to abandon econo- ; mic dependence on Britain in favour ! of economic co-operation with Japan. | The reason for this is, of course, that j Thailand has rubber, tin and rice, j which, together with what has been; made available to Japan in Indo- ! China, would help to offset the econo- i mic blockade to which Japan is sub- j ject. Moreover Thailand has air and j | naval bases complementary to those j I in Indo-China for any drive across i the Malay Peninsula to Burma, thus | cutting off Singapore by the back ! door. It is fairly plain that Thailand is j Japan’s definite objective. If she I cannot secure all she wants by economic pressure and infiltration she seems disposed to fight. To this course she is being urged by Ger- . many who would like nothing better ; than to see a diversion created in I the Far East. Does domination of Thailand by Japan mean war with Britain and the United States? Thai is the question which most people will be asking themselves. A glance at the map will show that Japanese! control in Thailand is a more serious ! threat to British interests than was the occupation of Indo-China. Thailand and Burma have a very long common frontier, which runs like a tongue down to the narrowest part of the Malay Peninsula in the Gulf of Siam. With Thailand under hostile control, the Malay States and the Singapore bastion would become isolated from the land side. Further than that, the Burma road, leading from Rangoon north to Mandalay to ■ connect with the Chinese province of \ Yunnan and serving as China’s life- \ line, would become immediately 1 threatened. These are some of the ) broad strategical reasons why Britain j can scarcely afford to stand by and | see an unfriendly nation move into 1 Thailand. 1 Proof has not been wanting al--1 ready that this kind of domination | can be accomplished without an I actual clash of armies. The Thais 1 might be prepared to accept JapanI ese control just as Vichy has done in 1 Indo-China or they might decide to 1 defend their integrity by fighting. In 1 the latter case they would not pre--1 sent a serious obstacle to Japanese | designs upless they received help | from outside. This suggests the query | whether Britain and the United | States would guarantee the indepen--1 dcnce of Thailand. She has a land i force of about a quarter of a million 1 men which have been trained under ! a compulsory system but this is not 1 many in a nation of 15,000,000. Jap--11 anese influence has always been . | strong in Thailand who has long looked to Japan as her mentor. Now that the Japanese are on the spot with persuasion and threats it would not be surprising to see Thailand become subservient to Japan if she is left entirely to her own resources. In this section of the Pacific, which - includes Australia, New Zealand and * Fiji, there is much activity by land * and sea and keen watchfulness by - Britain and the United States. The 3 people of New Zealand will realise W that what happens there in the near

future will be of great moment toll them. Britain and the United States; will not be aggressors. Japan will ,- not fight so long as she can make i headway along her chosen path of t creating a "new order" in south-east 1 Asia by other means. But there is j, a point beyond which she cannot go f without setting the match to the < highly combustible situation which ' now obtains in the Pacific. Whethei c or not she is determined to do that c is for her to decide.