SINGAPORE BASE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18471, 7 August 1923, Page 7

SINGAPORE BASE.

FRENCH INTERPRETATION.

BRITISH "ANXIETY IN ASIA.

RUSSIA SUSPECTS PLAN. MASTERY OF THE ORIENT, By , Telegraph— Association— A. "arid N.Z. ," . LONDON. Aug. 6. Discussing the Singapore naval base scheme, the Paris Temps.' declares the base is ' intended for protection against Japan, but it is nob Australia or British commercial interests in China which Britain- desires to protect, but rather interests west, of 'Singapore. The present aspect in Asia gives Britain' good cause for anxiety. She needs to erect a barrier between the two halves.of the continent in ferment.. . j . ;'. ~

The Temps adds that Britain, in order to send a fleet to Singapore, must be mistress of the Mediterranean, which doea not simplify the problem.

, A Moscow message states that M. Karakhan, a member of the : ; Soviet Foreign Affairs Commissariat has proceeded to China on a special mission. He declared that the Pacific in future would become the centre >of international' politics, and after fortifying Singapore the British > would be. masters of Asia.

ANOTHER MILITARY VIEW.

MOBILITY OF THE FLEET.

EASTERN BASE ■ ESSENTIAL.

LONDON, 3tly 28.

" Movement is everything ' in sea strategy," declares , Major-General ' Sir George Aston, writing in the Nineteenth Century under the heading, " Japan and Australia.". ,

Movement to-day,", he adds, "' depends upon fuel «supply and facilities for repairing and docking. That is the explanation of the need for an adequate naval base at Singapore. There has been considerable opposition to the scheme on account of the cost. Those who maintain that a naval base" by itself cannot exercise control' over the neighbouring j seas are perfectly correct. • Its influence can only be indirect. A thoroughly mobile sea force can alone safeguard our interests at sea, but -it.can :do nothing' without bases' for its replenishment, because without such bases ships' cease to be mobile. " The main issue to be decided, therefore, is not the equipment of Singapore, but the provision of an adequate mobile sea force, which cannot be used without a base at Singapore. That is the hub of the Whole matter."

The writer quotes a recent speech by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. L. O. M. S. Amery, to the effect that' tne defence of the Empire, which is spread over all seas, cannot be sustained- indefinitely by one small island in the North Sea. Sir George Aston asserts ; emphatically that Japan is absolutely secure against attack, because no other country has ' a fully equipped naval base in ■ the Western Pacific which is capable of. docking two or three of the largest battleships ' simultaneously, or an arsenal capable of manufacturing large supplies of heavy calibre ammunition or storing the millions of tons of oil fuel required for a modern fleet. ;

There are," he concludes, " two possible causes of friction with Japan. One is economic and the other is racial. Great Britain has a direct interest in the first Australia , and Canada are concerned in the second.; There can be no question of an .offensive against Japan ;or against Japan's exclusive interests. There could be no question of a. successful defensive against an• --; extension ,of tnose interests westward to Singapore, or southward to Australia, without a. naval, base at ; Singapore and " an' adequate ' sea" force based thereon. v The question whether and bow such a force can be provided will be one of the most important subjects to be."discussed at the Imperial Conference."

NOT UNFRIENDLY.

OFFICIAL JAPANESE VIEW.

LONDON. July 29.

Admiral Tosu, the Japanese naval attache at London, declares that the Singapore base scheme is not contrary to the Washington agreement. "Some of my countrymen see in the measure a sign that England is no longer our friend," he says. "They do not realise that we should do the same thing if placed in a similar position, it is the official opinion that friendshipbetween Britain and Japan is in no way incompatible , with the construction of the Singapore base." , ; .'.;..