DRIVE ON HANKOW

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23128, 29 August 1938, Page 10

DRIVE ON HANKOW

JAPANESE SUCCESSES ADMISSION BY DEFENDERS VERY FIERCE RESISTANCE (Received August 2S, 7.50 p.m.) HANKOW, August 27 The first major successes in tho Japanese drive on Hankow and tho capture of Juichang are now admitted by the Chinese, also at Yuchingshan Hill, the guardian of Poyang Lake, 1700 being killed. Tho Japanese are advancing slowly in the face of very fierce resistance.

A message from Tokio states that a nation-wide drive for scrap iron from households for munitions has begun. The Chinese claim a victory on the north bank of the Yangtse River and tho recapture of Tsien-shan and Taihu, thus isolating the. Japanese at Huangmei.

A Japanese statement says Japan is determined to apply a very strict censorship, including business messages, in spite of a protest by' Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, British Ambassador to China.

STRAIN ON FINANCES POSITION OF JAPANESE LONDON. August 2G Reports are reaching London that Japan's finances are being subjected to an almost unbearable strain. The official trade figures, which show a decline in exports of 21.5 per cent in six months, do not tell the whole story, as they include the exports to the yen bloc countries.

Tho Statist estimates that genuine foreign exports slumped by at least 38.9 per cent, and that the surplus of imports, for which Japan had actually to pay from her small foreign exchange and gold reserves, is fully twice as large as tho trade returns suggest. It also appears, in contrast with official statistics, that Japan has lost 50 to 60 per cent of her gold reserves since tho war with China began. The general belief is that a sharp deterioration in Japan's economic position is likoly in the near future.

GAS IN WARFARE CHINA CHARGES JAPAN LONDON, August 2ft Tho Chinese Embassy alleges 'a further gas attack by the Japanese at Juichang on Tuesday. A message from Tokio, however, says the War Office spokesman denies tho use of poison gas, though a smoko screen of a harmless nature possibly was employed.