MYSTERIOUS DEATH

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 178, 31 July 1940, Page 5

MYSTERIOUS DEATH

BRITISH SUBJECT IN TOKIO ALLEGED SUICIDAL LEAP ONE OF 12 ARRESTED CHARGES OF ESPIONAGE [By Telegraph- Press Association—Copyright] Received July 30, 5.5 p.m. TOKIO, July 29. The British Ambassador in Tokio, Sir Robert Craigie, has twice protested, once formally and once personally, to the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mr. Matsuoka, and requested information concerning the reasons for the arrest by the Japanese police, acting simultaneously in several cities, of 1* prominent British subjects, since Saturday.

The Associated Press correspondent in Tokio says that the Japanese Foreign Office disclosed that they were arrested by the military police under the direction of prosecutors as the first step against an alleged British I espionage network throughout Japan. “Mysterious Fall” The Japanese Ministries of War and Justice announced that the rounded up Britons were accused of anti-Japanese espionage, and said that one of them, Mr. Neville Cox, Reuter’s Far East manager and Tokio correspondent, committed suicide rather than face probable conviction. An earlier message said that Mr. Cox was killed in a mysterious fall from the fourth floor of the Japanese police headquarters while being questioned. He jumped from the window while under examination and died. The British Consul was not allowed to interview Mr. Cox. Britain has demanded a full investigation into Mr. Cox’s death. British officials are not inclined to accept what purports to be his farewell note, and have also asked for a substantiation of the charges of the espionage network. Mr. Guy Locock, director of the Federation of British Industries, says that the charge of espionage against any representatives of the Federation of British Industries is fantastic. They are concerned solely with commercial matters. Mrs. Cor denied that her husband had been engaged in espionage. He had merely been doing the regular work of a foreign correspondent. U.S, EMBARGO NOT AIMED AT JAPAN ACTION ON OIL AND SCRAP METALS LONDON, July 29. A Tokio message states that the Japanese Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Y. Suma, declined to comment on the United States embargo on oil and scrap metals pending official information. He said, however, that Japan was negotiating with the Netherlands East Indies for an increase in oil supplies. Later he said the United States Under-Secretary of State, Mr. Sumner Welles, had assured the Japanese Ambassador in the United States that the licensing of oil and scrap iron did not constitute an anti-Japanese embargo. Japan understood officially that the order was aimed at restricting the export of vital defence materials and would not affect Japan greatly. CAFE INCIDENT AMERICAN REGRETS SATISFACTORY' SETTLEMENT. Received Julv 30, 5.5 p.m. SHANGHAI, July 29. The United States Consul-General, Mr. R. P. Butrick, and the counsellor at the United States Embassy at Nanking, Mr. W. R. Peck, visited the Japanese Consul, Major-General Miura, and expressed their regrets at the Oriental Cafe incident, which Major-General Miura accepted as a satisfactory settlement, withdrawing all claims for compensation. A fortnight ago three United States marines and several Japanese civilians engaged in a fight in the Japaneseowned Oriental Cafe in Shanghai. Beer bottles were thrown and a Japanese Embassy official said that intoxication on both sides was responsible. JAPANESE CENSORSHIP OF MAIL POST OFFICE IN FRENCH CONCESSION. Received July 30, 9.5 p.m. LONDON, July 30. The Moscow radio says that Japanese official shave installed a post office at Shanghai in the French Concession and intend to censor all mail. NEW AMBASSADOR TO AMERICA Received July 30, 9.45 p.m. TOKIO, July 30. The Yomiuroi Shimbun says that the new Foreign Minister, Mr. Matsuoka, has offered the post of Ambassador to the United States to Mr. Yoshisuke Aikawa, president of the Manchuria Heavy Industry Company, replacing Mr. Horinouchi. The newspaper adds that Mr. Matsuoka intends avoiding friction in t Japanese-Ameri-can relations while being “in perfect readiness for the worst.”