DISTRUST FELT

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25286, 21 August 1945, Page 5

DISTRUST FELT

JAPANESE ATTITUDE NO SIGN OF CONTRITION SINISTER RESERVATIONS (Reed. 8.5 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. '2O Dissatisfaction with Japan since the surrender is expressed by several London newspapers, whose comments have been largely inspired by the arrival of the Japanese envoys at Manila. The Times says the arrival of those envoys brings nearer to the end a situation which has caused increasing doubt and irritation in Allied countries. "There is evidence enough," adds the Times, "that the decision to surrender has thrown the mass of the Japanese people into profound bewilderment. There is even more evidence that the surrender so far has been represented to the Japanese people in such a way as to add appreciably to the difficulties of the Allied task now that the fighting is over. Reminder May Be Needed "From Tokyo has come no word of contrition, no recognition of the wrong done to others, no admission of guilt. Not one of the broadcasts from the Emperor downward has been one of regret or remorse, but that Japan has this time been unlucky." The Daily Mail says there must be full and immediate compliance with General Mac Arthur's orders. "Failing this," adds the paper, "it may be necessary to remind Japan again in a practical fashion that she is a beaten nation." Saying that General Mac Arthur's previous orders as to the time and manner of despatch of the envoys have been flouted, the paper continues: "It is not surprising that in this country, and even more in the United States, people are becoming highly suspicious of Japan's real intentions. Trickery so early is a very bad sign. No time must be lost in showing those who resort to it that it docs not pay." Parallel in 1918 The Daily Mail draws a parallel with the situation in Germany in 1918 and says that there is rtow the same sort of talk —Germany was then able to establish the myth that she had not been beaten. This is compared with the recent Japanese broadcast pronouncements. Germany then, and Japan now, ended the war with a great reserve of power, says the paper and adds: "The Japanese must be made to realise that their fighters were everywhere thrashed by better men, even before the atom bomb appeared." The News Chronicle also refers to the bad impression created by Japan's reluctance to complete capitulation formalities and says: "In the minds of the Japanese rulers there are sinister reservations." The paper insist that in the surrender terms there must be no room for a recrudescence of military or expansionist ambitions and says: "The Allies' problem is similar in kind to the problem that confronts them in Germany, but it is rendered a 'good deal more difficult by the remoteness of Japan, by the fact that at the time of her surrender no invading army had landed on Japanese soil, by the inability of more than a few Westerners to speak the language or fathom the Japanese mind. "It may be a long time before we are satisfied that they are fit for a share in world government. Until then their urge to dominate their neighbours to the disruption of the world's peace must be ruthlessly suppressed."