JAPAN IN MANCHURIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 21037, 23 November 1931, Page 9

JAPAN IN MANCHURIA.

OCCUPATION EXTENDED CHINESE LEADER'S PLIGHT. BEYOND I!EACH OF AID. ORDER AT TSITSIHAR. TEMPORARY GOVERNMENT. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. (Received November 22. 5.5 p.m.) Times Cable. PEKING. Nov. 21. Reports from Taianchen, on tho Tsit-sihnr-Roshan railway, state that General Ma Chan-shan is now beyond reach of Chinese aid and must make terms with tho Japanese or retire. Earlier despatches from Shanghai stated that the Nanking Government officially announced that all the Chinese armed forces in Manchuria had been placed under the command of General Ma Chanshan, who is Governor of the ITeilungkiatig province, as a preparatory step for United Chinese action against the Japanese. A temporary Government has been established at Tsitsihar, which was recently occupied by the Japanese. Hie Government is under the leadership of General Chang Ching-hui, Under Japanese supervision order has been restored. ■A message from Harbin yesterday stated that the Chinese officials loyal to Nanking were preparing to evacuate and were expected to be replaced by officials appointed by the Japanese. This extends the sphere of Japanese influence to the furthest point for many years. The chief student organisations at Harbin have presented a combined petition to the Nanking Government asking for a declaration of war on Japan.

SUGGESTED ARMISTICE. JAPANESE INDIGNANT. COURSE STRONGLY OPPOSED. (Received November 22, 5.5 p.m.) TOKIO, Nov. 21. In connection with the reported agreement at the meeting of the Council of the League of Natioiis in- Paris for an armistice between Japan and China, officials at Tokio declare that course to be impossible. They say it would enable the Chinese forces aggressively to reassemble at the strategic points from which they have been driven. That would place Japan's small army at the mercy of overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers whose commanders are unreliable and untrustworthy. The Foreign Minister, Baron Shidehara, is verv angry over Mr. Yoshizawa s con sent in Paris to the proposal for an armistice pending sino-Japanese negotiations. He says an armistice would be inconsistent with Japan's freedom of action in measures of self-defence. A message from Paris says it is authoritatively denied that the word " armistice" was u>>ed at the Council s discussion yesterday. This was concentrated upon ending aggression and acts of provocation. On the invitation of (he Japanese Government, British, American and other military attaches left Tokio to-day for Manchuria.

AMERICA'S POSITION. STATEMENT BY MR. BORAH, INTERVENTION NOT APPROVED. (Received November 22. 5.5 p.m.') WASHINGTON, Nov. 21. The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the United States Senate, Mr. W. E. Borah, in reply to M. Briand's statement that independent action by America for a settlement of the Manchuria dispute would bo welcomed, said the United States could go no further than to employ her good offices in every reasonable way. Mr. Borah continued: " The proposition from Paris (o employ force—for that is what it means—seems incredible. I do not approve of what Japan is doing, but this talk of using force or intervention has the very reverse effect to producing peace." RUSSIA'S SILENCE. ADVANCE OF JAPANESE. SURPRISE AT WASHINGTON. WASHINGTON, Nov. 20. Russia's quiescent attitude toward the war in Manchuria is giving rise to reports of a secret Russo-Japanese understanding and has stirred renewed speculation here. Officials are puzzled by the continued silence of Russia, as the Japanese troops have penetrated further into the Russian zone. The officials hero will not discuss the Russian angle, however.