TOKYO POLITICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25299, 5 September 1945, Page 7

TOKYO POLITICS

DISSOLVING THE DIET ELECTION PREPARATIONS NEW EPOCH IN PROSPECT (Heed. (>.:!() p.m.) TOKYO, Sept. 4 The Emperor of Japan today opened an extraordinary session of the Diet. Following the meeting the Diet will dissolve. The Government has begun the taking of a census and other preparations for a general election. The Cabinet, which is viewed as a temporary surrender Government, is expected to resign as soon as possible. The Associated Press correspondent in Yokohama says Japan has begun a new political epoch with the influence of the militarists' wiped out and the industrialists and politicians resuming the struggle for power which they shared with the militarists until the early 1930'5. Some Japanese newspapermen, the correspondent adds, predict a revival ol Communism, which was spreading in the early 1920's until the militarists and other groups stamped out the trend. The so-called Democrats propose a monarchical system akin to Britain's, but with the Emperor also as spiritual head. The Emperor yesterday "personally informed his Imperial ancestors of Japan's defeat," states the Domei news agency. The Emperor, clad in ceremonial robes, worshipped at three sanctuaries in the Imperial Palace, Tokyo. Be was attended by the Empress, also a representative of the Dowager Empress, Princes Mikasa and Taknmatsii (his brothers), Prince Higaslu-Kuni (the Prime Minister), General Umezu and other high officials. HONGKONG INCIDENTS JAPANESE TROOPS LEAVE (Heed. 6.30 p.m.) HONGKONG, Sept. 4 The evacuation of Japanese forces from Hongkong was completed last Saturday, says the Domei news agency. Some minor disputes arose when Butish forces attempted to disarm Japanese in some localities. The agency adds that details of the surrender of Hongkong are still under negotiation. The Canadian Combined Press says a Chinese crowd beat an armed Japanese soldier to death on August 27. when the first British occupation forces landed in Hongkong. . . . . . Freed Canadian prisoners paid high tributes to soldiers from India. I hey were subjected to the most intense .Tapnno.se propaganda ana tortured. Some were publicly executed, but remained staunchly loyal to Britain. Bear-Admiral Harcourt has proclaimed a British military administration for the city of Hongkong and surrounding districts. SPAIN'S DUAL POLICY MILD TONE FOR ALLIES FIRM ATTITUDE AT HOME LONDON, Sept. :i Diplomatic circles in Madrid are pondering over the Spanish Government's apparently deliberate policy of speaking with an unbending voice for borne consumption'and a more soothing voice for abroad, says .Router's correspondent in the Spanish capital. The speculation follows the suppression within ten days of the publication' in the Spanish press of two statements on policy by the Foreign Minister, Senor Alberto Artajo. The first statement banned was an interview with a Lisbon newspaper. The second was Senor Artajo's reply to the references to Spain by the British Foreign Secretary, Mr Ernest Bovin, in the House of Commons on August 20, It seems that at the moment there exists'an agreed compromise between the various groiips in General Franco's Cabinet to make placating gestures abroad without materially changing anything on the home front, adds the correspondent. The impression is gained 'that the regime is watching the effects of these pronouncements abroad and. so long as the British and American Governments appear satisfied, nothing much will be changed in Spain. The prolongation of the iron censorship on Spanish newspapers continues to give Spaniards a distorted and uninformed view of the world situation. The censor stops even such a paper as the Times if it contains' comment adverse to the regime.