NEXT OFFENSIVE BY JAPAN

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 289, 4 September 1942, Page 5

NEXT OFFENSIVE BY JAPAN

Danger To Russia POSSIBLE BOLD MOVE BY WAR PARTY

(By Telegraph.—Press Assn.— Copyright.!

NEW YORK, September 2.

At a meeting of the Pacific War Council today the resignation of the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mr. Togo, was discussed, according to a statement later made by the British member, Lord Halifax. There was also some discussion of the possible strategy of the Japanese. Lord Halifax added that President Roosevelt gave encouraging estimates of the relative air losses in the Solomon Islands.

The New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr. Fraser, attended the meeting. The Chinese member, Mr. Soong, said China believed that Japan was ready for an attack on Siberia. The Chungking correspondent of the Associated Press of America quotes foreign observers who believe that the Japanese are preparing a major action against Russia. They state that five Japanese divisions moved northward in August to bolster the Kwangtung Army, while a large Japanese fleet has been concentrated in northern waters. The leading Chinese English newspapers, “Takung Pao” and “National Herald,” say that the resignation of Shigenori Togo, which has been accompanied by the resignation of the Deputy-Foreign Minister, Harohito Nishi, portends a new bold move by the war party. Mr. Wilfrid Fleisher, a former Tokio correspondent of the New York “Herald-Tribune,” says that Togo’s resignation resulted from an internal policy dispute on whether to move against Siberia or India. Togo opposed an attack on Siberia, and was overruled, by General Tojo, the Prime Minister.

The official Tokio radio today announced that General Tojo stated that no alteration in foreign policy would result from the change in the Ministry.