THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1942 HIGH STAKES IN BURMA

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24209, 26 February 1942, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1942 HIGH STAKES IN BURMA

Discussing enemy strategy in his address on Monday, President Roosevelt said that the object of the Japanese and the Nazis is to separate the United States, Britain, China and Russia, to isolate them so that each will be cut off from sources of supplies and reinforcements. It was obvious, he continued, what would happen if all of those great reservoirs of power were cut off from each other. He invited his listeners to look at the vast area of China with its millions of fighting men While he was speaking, the Japanese were engaged on the culminating stage of the offensive in Burma | designed to realise part of the stated 1 object—the isolation of China. Rangoon's position has become perilous. Its fall would seal off the seaward end of the Burma Road, the one capacious route by which the Allies can send aid. to Chungking. Even as it is, the life-line has beeD severed 5 by the reported Japanese advance to Pegu, 50 miles north-east of Rangoon, and an important junction on the rail connection with the Burma ' Road. The fall of Pegu indicates, the Times concludes, that the situation 1 is desperate in South Burma. Nor can it find u any grounds for reassurance after a survey of the campaign further north. There, also, the enemy appears to have the upper hand. ' suggesting that he may succeed in • blocking the road in Central Burma r at Toungoo and in North Burma at Lashio itself. How much hope remains of re- ' trieving a desperate situation cannot be known here. Yet the stakes are , high enough to justify almost any outlay. First there is the retention 1 of China as an active ally. Chung--1 king's resolution is fixed in any case, but if Chinese fighting power is to be exerted offensively she must be supplied with the tools to equip her millions of soldiers. Otherwise China will be forced back oa the defensive and the effectiveness of her reinforcement of the Allies be heavily reduced. Second, Burma represents a rich prize. The third most populous country in the Empire, she is rich in oil, in deposits of some of the scarcer minerals, and in rice, of which she produces the world's largest export surplus. Many of the 400,000,000 of India depend on that surplus, and the bulk of Burmaover three times the area of New Zealand—covers India's flank on the east. The stakes are high indeed. What it might be possible to do is shown by what was done in Malaya. Mr. Churchill has just stated how the original garrison of 60,000 was reinforced by over 40,000 more men, together with munitions, rushed in a few short weeks and in nine convoys to Singapore. The harbour of Rangoon has been closed and mined, but the military means to retrieve the situation could still be sent through the port of Bassein, on the Irrawaddy delta 80 miles further west. The difficulty is that an army has already been staked and lost at Singapore. It will not be easy at short notice to duplicate it in Burma. The question arises whether the 16,000,000 Burmese are not concerned to defend themselves against the Japanese invaders. Here again the experience in Malaya is not encouraging. After nearly 120 years of British rule, it was found that the vast majority of Asiatics were "in sufficiently interested to take steps to ensure its continuance." Neither in Burma has the British raj succeeded in enlisting the loyalties of the people. The majority are prob ably apathetic, the politically-minded minority are disaffected some actively so. It will be remembered that after his "goodwill" mission to Britain, the Prime Minister of Burma, D Saw, was arrested on charges of communicating with the Japanese enemy. Little hope can reasonably be entertained, therefore, of active co-operation from the Burmese. On the other hand, Indian political leaders realise India's vital interest in preserving the integrity of Burma as a buffer against the Japanese aggressor. Marshal Chiang has left them in no doubt of the fate awaiting India at the enemy's hands If now, by a great act of statesman ship by the British Government, India could be assured of her future and convinced it was worth working and fighting for, she could introduce the potent element that would redress the balance and restore the situation in the Bay of Bengal.