LITTLE NEWS IN TOKIO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19939, 7 May 1928, Page 9

LITTLE NEWS IN TOKIO.

JAPANESE CASUALTIES. OUTBREAK OF HOST!L!TIES. PRE-ARRANGED CHINESE PLAN. (Received May 6, 5.5 p.m.) United Service. TOKIO, May 5. A spokesman for the Japanese War Office, in answering a question in the Diet, said he had only fragmentary and indefinite information from China and no knowledge of events outside the zone guarded by Japanese troops. Last night there were 10 Japanese dead and oO wounded. The spokesman said military reports from Tsinan stated that the Southerners opened fire according to a pre-arranged plan, but it was not clear whether the Nationalist headquarters were responsible for the plan or not. The Japanese troops are singularly apathetic as regards the fate of their countrymen in Shantung. They are discussing chiefly the local political effect of the fighting and massacre. There is no demand for -retribution.

DECISION OF JAPAN. ACTION AGAINST CHINESE. MAY TAKE INITIATIVE TO-DAY. (Received May 7, 1.5 a.m.) United Service. TOKIO, May 6. It is understood that the Japanese Cabinet has approved a recommendation made by General Fukuda, in command of the expeditionary forces, that the Chinese troops shall be cleared out of Tsinan and from the Tsingtao railway. It is expected that the Japanese will take the initiative on Monday, when the reinforcements arrive from Manchuria. Another division is ready to depart from Japan if required.

AMERICA'S ATTITUDE. NEUTRALITY IF POSSIBLE. FEARS AS TO DEVELOPMENTS. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. WASHINGTON, May 4. The United States Government and officials are watching with particular interest the movement of the Japanese troops into the heart of the war area in China. America will continue neutral both as regards the Chinese civil war and the movement of Japanese soldiers, unless the lives and property of American nationals are in danger. But some fears are expressed about the possible consequences of the clash between the Japanese and Chinese Nationalist forces.