WAR IN CHINA

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21418, 12 May 1941, Page 11

WAR IN CHINA

JAPAN’S PEACE PLANS CONQUEST IMPOSSIBLE SOUTHWARD EXPANSION PLAN (United Press Assn.—tiec. Tel. Copyright) TOKIO, May 10 The Japanese Ambassador to Nanking, Mr K. Honda, is returning to Japan with a plan based on agreement between the army, navy and foreign service for peace in China, says the Nichi Nichi Shimbun’s Shanghai correspondent. Mr Honda, in an interview, said he was informed the Chinese Government wanted wholesale withdrawal of Japanese troops as a prerequisite for opening negotiations. However, peace was only possible through strengthening the Japanese - controlled Nanking regime, which Japan intended to bring about. The Japan Times-Advertiser, journal of the Japanese Foreign Office, discussing in an editorial Japah’s policy toward China, abandons hope of overcoming China through force and advocates reducing the scale of hostilities m order to promote peaceful conditions and improved trade. Urging the immediate positive realisation of the Japanese southward advance policy Mr I. Tokutomi, the noted commentator, in an article in the Nichi Nichi Shimbun declares that an American-Japanese collision is a foregone conclusion. He adds that it would be the height of misfortune for Japan to ignore this danger. Mr Tokutomi asserts that it is already clear that the Washington and Chungking Governments may be considered a single entity and that as far as Japan is concerned it would be nearer the truth to say that Marshal Chiang Kai-Shek is fighting for America rather than to say that America is aiding Chungking.