JAPANESE REPLY CRITICIZED

Southland Times, Issue 23674, 24 November 1938, Page 5

JAPANESE REPLY CRITICIZED

American Rights In China I POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF CHINESE DEFEAT (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright) (Received November 23, 7.40 p.m.) NEW YORK, November 23. The United States Secretary of State (Mr Cordell Hull) today indicated that he considered unsatisfactory the Japanese reply to the United States’s protest against violation of the “open door” in China. Mr Hull said Japan’s answer was not responsive to the United States’s objections, particularly as it affected the general position of the United Statas and American rights and interests not only in China but in every country.

The Washington correspondent of The New York Times states:

“At least tlie United States is reinforcing her treaty position through diplomatic protests, even though she may not be prepared for more vigorous action. The outcome conceivably will not be known' until the war between China and Japan is culminated by a decision.

“The opinion is that Japan is proceeding on the theory that she will win the war and dominate China. If she does, there may be little the United States can do about it. Consequently eyes are being turned more and more to the resistance China is making. If she is becoming short of funds and supplies it is realized that she cannot hold out indefinitely. She has. not been successful in obtaining financial assistance from the United States or Britain, nor does it appear that she will obtain such., “If China, under these circumstances, should be forced to make the best terms possible with Japan, the United States would be confronted with an entirely new phase of Far Eastern relations. What, this would mean in practical terms officials are not prepared to forecast.”