FEARS INTENSIFIED

Evening Star, Issue 22460, 3 October 1936, Page 16

FEARS INTENSIFIED

SINO’JAPANESE RELATIONS POSSIBLE threat to yangtse ports PREPARATIONS TO EVACUATE BRITISH SUBJECTS Bre«s Association—By Telegraph—Copyright SHANGHAI, October 2. (Received October 3, at 2 p.m.) Fears of a Sino-Japanese war have been intensified. The Nanking Government is reported to be mobilising huge forces of over 70,000 soldiers and guarding the Nanking-Hangkow-Shanghai railway system. Japanese marines have virtually occupied Hongkew, and the British naval authorities are preparing to evacuate British women and children from the Yangtse ports in the event of an emergency. The possibility of a Japanese blockade of. the Yangtse ports is feared as a result of the serious impasse in the SinoJapanese negotiations. The firmness of China towards the Japanese demands has thrown Japanese diplomatic quarters into consternation, and they are now pessimistic as to the success of the negotiations. A renewed exodus of Chinese from Hongkew and Chapei follows the tension. The death sentence on two Chinese on a charge of shooting a Japanese marine at Hongkew in November, 1935, has caused satisfaction in Japanese circles, but has not lessened the tension.

The Japanese Consul at Changsha, alleging that the Chinese police are hushing up an alleged attempt to blow up his residence, is protesting to the Hunan Government. -