JAPAN'S POLICY

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17128, 25 April 1921, Page 7

JAPAN'S POLICY

NOT DICTATED BY MILITARISTS. STATEMENT BY EX-MINISTER. (By Cable—Press Association— Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) TOKIO, April 22. In an interview, Mr Ki Inukai, a former Minister •of Education in tho Okuma Cabinet, said: "I firmly believe there ia no danger whatsoever from the outside world should the United States grant the Philippines independence, for I can state definitely that Japan has no territorial ambitions in that direction. It has been frequently charged against us that Japan is a military nation, but Japanese armaments resulted from the wars with China, Russia, and Germany. The moral of the world war is not lost on the Japanese nation. Those acquainted with Japanese nolitics readily see that the Japanese militarists no longer dictate policies, either internal or external. Japan is ruled to-day, not by army men, but by civilians. Japan is ready to find the means of reducing armaments if the initiative comes from other Powera, particularly America. ' RELATIONS WITH AMERICA. STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT HARDING. (Received April 24th,. 5.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 23. Advices from Tokio state that President Harding, through Mr Shidehara, Japanese Ambassador to Washington, assured Japan that her relations with tho United States had never been estranged in the real sense of the term, nor was any such estrangement possible. ' It is reported that President Hardin"- declared that the promotion of friendly relations between the two nations would constantly be his object. This was not a mere compliment, but his real deßire.