BRITISH RESPONSE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24144, 10 December 1941, Page 7

BRITISH RESPONSE

PEOMPT ACTION TAKEN PREMIER'S INDICTMENT ASSURANCES TO CHINA (Reed. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Dec. 8 An indictment of Japan for her violent action of aggression was made by the Prime. Minister, Mr. Churchill, in a speech before a hastily-summoned meeting of Parliament. He announced that Cabinet had authorised an immediate declaration of war on Japan. Mr. Churchill said:

"You will remember that a month ago, with the full approval of the nation and the Empire, T pledged the word of Great Britain that, should the United States become involved in a war with Japan, a British declaration would follow within the hour.

Congress Preceded "The President told me that he would this morning send a message to Congress which would be the constitutional instrument by which a United States declaration of war would be made, and I assured him that we would follow immediately, However, we were informed that the British States in Malaya had been the object of attack, and then it was announced from Tokio that the Japanese High Command—not the imperial Japanese Government —had declared that a state of war existed with Great Britain and the United States.

"There hare been in Japan a number of military societies—secret societies — which have asserted their views as to what the policy of Japan should be, and it is to these bodies that the most strange and violent action of Japan, so fateful to her future, must be ascribed. "In view of the attack and of this declaration, there was no need to wait for the declaration by Congress. Cabinet, which met at 12.30 to-day, therefore authorised an immediate declaration of war upon Japan. Message to Japanese Envoy

"Instructions to this effect were sent to the British Ambassador in Tokio, Sir Robert Craigie, and a communication was despatched to the Japanese Charge d'Affaires to this effect: 'The British Government has learned that Japanese forces, without previous warning either in the form of a' declaration of war or an' ultimatum, had attempted a landing on the coast of Malaya and bombed Singapore and Hongkong. In view of these wanton acts of unprovoked aggression committed in flagrant violation of international law a state of war exists between the two countries.'

"Meanwhile, hostilities had already begun. The Japanese began a landing on British territory in northern Malaya and were immediately engaged by our forces which were in readiness. "The Royal Netherlands Government has very important Oriental possessions. In view of the hostile acts perpetrated by Japanese forces against two Powers with which the Netherlands maintained close relations, they consider that a state of war now exists between the Netherlands and Japan. "Just before Japan went to war I had sent to the Thai Prime Minister this message: 'There is a possibility of an imminent Japanese invasion of your country. If you are attacked, defend yourselves. We shall regard an attack on you as an attack on ourselves.' "

Appeal lor Greater Efforts Mr. Churchill appealed for greater efforts on the part of the British people, especially munition workers. "Supplies whereon we counted and which have been diverted to Russia," he said, "must now be made good by us. The diversion of other supplies whereon we counted for ourselves might to some extent in the next few months caiise a gap which we must fill." Aircraft were more than ever necessary as the war spread to so many States.

Referring to the possibility of a Japanese attack on Britain ever since Dunkirk, Mr. Churchill said: "So precarious and narrow was the margin upon which we then lived that we did not dare express the sympathy we all along felt for the heroic people of China. We were even forced for a short time in the summer of 1940 to agree to the closing of the Burma Road, but later, at the beginning of this year, as soon as we could regather our strength, we reversed our policy, and both I and the Foreign Secretary have felt able to make increasingly outspoken declarations of friendship for the Chinese people and their great leader, Marshal Chiang Kai-Shek. "We have always been friends. Last night I cabled the generalissimo assuring him that henceforward we would face the common foe together, although imperative demands of war in Europe and Africa had strained our resources, vast and growing though they were. Spread of Hitler's Madnes§

"The House and Empire will notice that some of the finest ships in the Royal Navy have reached their station in the Far East at a very convenient moment. Every preparation on our part has been made, and I do not doubt that we shall give a good account of ourselves. The closest accord has been established with the powerful American forces, both naval and air, and also with the strong and efficient forces of the Netherlands East Indies. "When we think of the insane ambition and insatiable appetite which have caused this vast extension of the war, we can only feel that Hitler's madness has infected the Japanese minds, and that the root of evil and its branch must be exterminated together. It is of the highest importance that there should be no under-rating the gravity of the dangers we have to meet either here or in the United States. The enemy lias attacked with an audacity which may spring from recklessness, but which may also spring from conviction of strength.

Four-filths ol World on Our Side "The ordeal to which the Englishspeaking world and our heroic Russian Allies are being exposed will certainly be hard, especially at the outset, and will probably be long, yet when we look round the sombre panorama of the world we have no reason to doubt the justice of our cause or that our strength and will power will bo sufficient to sustain it We have at least four-fifths of the population of the world ' on our side. We are responsible for their safety and their future. "In the past, we had a light which flickered; in the present we have a light which flames; in the future there will be a light which shines over all the land and sea."