GRAVE PERIL TO CHINA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 86, Issue 117, 21 May 1942, Page 5

GRAVE PERIL TO CHINA

URGENT NEED OF AID JAP. OFFENSIVE SOON (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) . Chungking, May 19. ! The Government spokesman rei veiled that there was increasing evidence that the Japanese were : »>n tne verge of a large-scale offensive against China. He described China’s outlook in the immediate future as of the gravest. “We need all possible help, especially planes, from our Allies,” he said. “This aid must be dispatched urgently to enable us to cope with the enemy. “The position on the Yunnan border, and also the situation in Chekiang, is increasingly perilous, the enemy having reinforced the original 30,000 troops with which he began the offensive in the latter theatre of war.” (Recd. 11 p.m.) Chungking, May 20. Reinforced Japanese forces are driving southward in Chekiang along portion of the Chekiang-Kiangsi railway, which is still held by the Chinese, and also along the coastal highway. The communique admitted that the Japanese occupied Chuki, 45 miles south of Hangchow, after a street battle, and also occupied Chenghsien, 80 miles south-west of Hangchow. A fleet of 40 Japanese planes is ranging over the front-line sectors of Chekiang, bombing Kinhua and other centres of resistance. JAPANESE AT BAY (Recd. 7.50 p.m.) London, May 19. General Alexander's forces are still holding out in Burma with their backs to the Bushai Hills, which cut off Burma from India. They are keeping the Japanese at bay while the wounded are taken to India. WARNING TO RUSSIA (Reed. 11.55 p.m.) London, May 19. Simultaneous with the launching of Japanese attacks on China from two directions, Berlin radio quotes the Japanese Foreign Office as warning “If Russia supplies China with war materials Japan will regard it as a cause of war.”