JAPAN

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 94, 28 July 1944, Page 4

JAPAN

WITH the course of fortune so drastically against the German arms in Europe, and the possibilities of Hitler's ultimate defeat and final overthrow growing more and more inevitable as the twin Allied offences swing into greater and greater stride, the plight of Imperial Japan is scarcely one to be envied. It is therefore somewhat remarkable to hear the candid confessions of the Japanese Naval commentator, who yesterday freely admitted that the fleet' would not seek action until the time was ripe for a strategical clash. To all students of the art of that colourless, thing known as 'propaganda' the above statement means only a shallow excuse for weakness. It is so transparent that even the untutored, can sense the underlying tragedy of Japan's weakening sea-power, and the far-reaching repercussions which have attended the: tremendous defeats her surface defence has sustained by the two years of war in the Pacific. Unable to make any swift replacements owing to her limited mineral resources; unable; to look to her hard-pressed Allies in crime for succour; forced only to rely upon her own feverish ship-building projects from fast disappearing stocks, Japan is only now beginning to realise the immensity of the: consequences of the retribution which her treachery has brought about. Undoubtedly her soldiers will die by the hundred thousand, possibly millions in the cause of the sacred personage of their Emperor. Millions more of her dupes on the Asiatic coast and in the off-lying islands will suffer and perish likewise. But the writing is already upon the wall. Let her naval strategists announce to the world that she will use her ships only when she is ready to do soviet her Army Chiefs continue to speak of the glories of the achievements of her soldiery, Japan to-day knows full well that the unheard of defeat, which she has been spared through the centuries is now; only a matter of time. Mercilessly the Allied forces in the Pacific roll nearer and nearer Tokio, like a steel barrier the Anglo-Indian armies advance through Burma; like a searing flame the unconquerable legions of China continue the struggle for the freedom of their country. Whether Japan's fleet seeks battle now or in the future matters little. .