JAPAN AND CHINA AFFAIR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 76, 22 October 1941, Page 5

JAPAN AND CHINA AFFAIR

GENERAL TOJO’S DECLARATION PRESS COMMENT ON RELATIONS WITH I K New York. Oct. 20 i The “New York Times" publishes n I Tokio dispatch from its correspondent, Mr Otto Tolischus. saying that in two declarations to-day, the Prime Minister. General Tojo, significantly cmpha sised the necessity for settling the China affair. It is also noteworthy that in refer ring to this policy he added the phrase “as laid down.” but whether he had ir. mind previous declarations that the incident can only be settled by crushing General Chiang Kai-shek by military force and promoting the Nanking regime, or some other unrevealed instructions is a matter for speculation. There is a disposition in the Press to-day to drop the word “greater” in reference to the co-prosperity sphere. The papers speak only of the East Asia prosperity sphere, centring round China and Manchukuo.--U.P.A. London, Oct. 21. The “Japan Times" says that American aid to Russia beyond a certain point is almost sure to aggravate the situation in the Pacific. The use of Vladivostok as a gateway for Ameri can supplies is beset with the danger of spreading the war to East Asia. An explanation of the apparent | eagerness in some quarters in Japan jto remove the impression created 1 abroad that the new regime is any more militaristic than the previous [ one is offered by the “Japan Times.” i which says that the policy is unchanged and only the method of carrying it out is altered. The newspaper calls the new Prime Minister’s methods “dynamic in strategy if static in principle.” The comment in most Japanese newspapers implies that any breakdown in negotiations with the United States will only be the f .ult of Washington. The “Nichinichi Shimbun” says Japan is prepared to conMnle the talks.— U.P.A.