GUNS SILENT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23115, 13 August 1938, Page 15

GUNS SILENT

TRUCE ON BOEDER BOTH SIDES WATCHFUL MIXED FEELINGS IN TOKIO DISTRUST OF THE SOVIET By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received August 12, 11.50 p.m.) LONDON, August 11 An uncanny silence to-day replaces the 10-days' roar of gunfire on the Russo-Japanese front at Chang-kufeng. Weary, begrimed soldiers peer across no-man's land, over which conversation can be clearly heard. Both sides are maintaining a wary watchfulness and apparently not trusting the truce. The tension is expected to last a few days until the commanders fully understand the position. With memories of nights of liand-to-hand fighting fresh in their minds Russian and Japanese troops after the "cease fire" did not show any readiness to fraternise. Distrust in the future is mingling with relief over the armistice. "Now Tokio will not be bombed. There is no need for me to go to the front," is a typical comment of the man-in-the-street in Tokio. The Nichi Nichi Shimbun, however, warns the public that the trouble is not yet over. The Soviet is still the Soviet. The terms of the armistice were published in Moscow without comment, but it was intimated that both sides were enabled to end th 6 disputes without abandonment of their principles. "The impression prevails in London that Japan lias climbed down farther and faster than Russia," says the Times, commenting on the truce. "Japan, who took the initiative in proposing a truce, swallowed the larger proportion of her pride. "One of the major causes of RussoJapanese friction may be removed if this precedent is applied to other sectors of the frontier, but whatever may be the final outcome of her tilting match with Russia, its immediate results can only be adverse for Japan." CONFIRMING TRUCE MILITARY DELEGATES MEETING ON BATTLEFIELD POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENTS (Received August 32, 11.SO p.m.) TOKIO, August 12 Meeting at a white-walled farmhouse near desolated Chang-kufeng Hill, Russian and Japanese military representatives agreed to exchange written notes at noon to-day confirming the armistice. Meanwhile, it was agreed that the corpses should be removed from the sight of the troops. The Japanese Foreign Office claims that the armistice permits Japan to retain Chang-kufeng Hill, and hints that the proposed boundary commission will possibly settle the entire frontier of Korea, Manchukuo and Russia. The question of a non-aggression pact may also be discussed. The Japanese casualties are officially estimated at 300 killed, and 600 wounded. The Japanese claim the Soviet casualties totalled 3000. POINT OF THE DISPUTE CHANG-KUFENG BOUNDARY [by telegraph—niEss association] WELLINGTON, Friday The Consul-General for Japan has received cable advice as follows: "According to a map published 'by the General Staff of Russia in 1911, the boundary line between Korea, Manchukuo and Russian territory runs on the eastern side of Nagaike, a Manchukuo village. According to the map attached to the Hunchun Treaty, completed between China and Russia in 1866, the border line runs on the western side of Nagaike. "But, with regard to the latter, tho question is whether the line runs through the top of Chang-kufeng Hill, which is situated to. the west of Nagaike as insisted upon by Russia, or along the eastern foot of Chang-kufeng, as claimed by Japan. This is the exact point of tho dispute between Russia and Japan."