EASTERN MAGINOT LINE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21624, 9 April 1940, Page 7

EASTERN MAGINOT LINE

Russians Securing Frontiers Observers Puzzled United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright (Received April 8. 6.30 p.m.) NEW YORK. April 7. Mr Hallett Abend, correspondent of the “New York Times” at Shanghai, says that observers are puzzled by the news that along the 3000-mile SiberianManchukuo frontier coincident with the spring thaw, the Russians are feverishly connecting the existing widelyspaced concrete pillboxes with concreted trenches and underground passages resulting in a veritable Maginot Line in East Asia. Some observers conjecture that this indicates that military development can be expected in the Near East and the Balkans for which reason the Russians are securing the frontiers against surprise Japanese attacks, but Japanese involvement in China makes this improbable. Others interpret it as a sign that the Soviet intends to attack Japan while the army remains in the mire in China.