DISPUTED ORIGIN OF WAR IN CHINA

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20017, 16 August 1939, Page 14

DISPUTED ORIGIN OF WAR IN CHINA

CASE FOR JAPAN

ALLEGED PEKIN ATTACK

SHANGHAI BOMBING

PRES 10 R VIXG 1 XT ERESTS

RIGHTS UNDER TREATY

(Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. Owing to Lie frequent allegations that Japan's action in China is a complete breach of the Nine-Power Treaty concerning China, Mr. K. Gunji, Consul-General for Japan, has issued a statement of the Japanese point of view. Mr. Gunji states:—

“At the outset, I must mention the initial cause of the present SinoJapanesc incident. On the evening of July 7. 1937, some 150 Japanese soldiers (stationed in China in accordance with the treaty rights) were engaged in manoeuvres on their grounds close .to the Marco Polo Bridge in Pekin. The Chinese authorities had been advised that the Japanese carried no live ammunition. Without warning, soldiers of the 37th Division of the 29th Chinese Army opened fire. In the district where the incident occurred there lived 17,000 Japanese civilians, who looked to their national tioops for protection. Efforts at Mediation. “The 150 Japanese retreated and sent for reinforcements, which arrived later. The authorities at Pekin, both Chinese and Japanese, were immediately informed and a mediation party was sent to the area. Fighting ceased at 0 n.m. on July 8. but (between 3 n.m. and 0 p.m. the Chinese renewed hostilities.

“On July 9 a truce was arranged, but shortly afterward the Chinese renewed the attack. A truce was again arranged. On July 11 an agreement was reached in the following terms: (1) Apology toy representatives of the 29th Chinese Army and punishment of those directly responsible; (2) Chinese troeps to vacate the village and be replaced by a peace preservation corps for the purpose cf keeping the Chinese troops sufficiently separated from the Japanese; (3) adequate measures to toe taken for curbing the activities of anti-Japanese ‘blue shirts’ and Communists. Influences Intervene “General Sung Cheh-Yuan, com-mander-in-chief of the 29th Chinese Army, provisionally. agreed to the above terms, and went to Tientsin on July 13 to negotiate a final settlement with the commander of the Japanese garrison. General Katsuki, to whom he personally expressed regret for the affair.

“The trouble was on the point of settlement when other influences intervened. The 'Nanking authorities had not imposed themselves on either side, although on July 9 they had dispatched troeps to North China. The sending of these troops was in violation of the agreement made in 1935 between the Hcpei-Chahar Political Council and the Nanking Government. But in spite of Sung Cheh-Yuan’s pledge to the Japanese, the Chinese troops repeated their attack on the Japanese forces stationed near the Marco Polo Bridge. Sung Cheh-Yuan promised to complete the troops’' withdrawal by noon on July 21.

Chinese “War Folicy”

“But on July 21 Chiang Kai-Shek and his (Nanking advisers were formulating their war policy against Japan. They had never had any intention of adjusting the trouble peacefully. After the trouble near Pekin hostilities spread all over the northern district. Then there was the brutal massacre of 200 Japanese civilians at Tungchow by 3000 soldiers of the 29th Chinese Army. The Shanghai incident was commenced by the killing of Lieutenant Oyama by Chinese soldiers.

“On August 14 the Chinese started bombing Shanghai from the air. and Chinese bombers dropped bombs at several points, killing many Chinese civilians. The practice of aerial ibombardment in the Sino-Japanese conflict in China was begun by the Chinese. Since then the present big-scale campaign has developed. British Reservation “It is sure that the sovereignty, independence and territorial and administrative integrity of China are guaranteed by the contracting Powers of the Nine-Power Treaty, but there is no stipulation in that treaty to nullify their right of self-defence and protection cf their treaty rights. It is exactly the same in the Kellogg Pact.

“When the British signed it, Sir Austen Chamberlain expressed the following important reservation: ‘The language of Article 1 as to renunciation Ci war as an instrument, national policy renders it desirable that I should remind Your Excellency that there are certain regions of the world, the welfare and integrity of which constitute a special vital interest 4'or our peace and safety. His'Majesty's Government has ibeen at pains to make it clear in the past that interference with these regions cannot be sull'ered. Their protection against attack is to the British Empire a measure of self-defence.’ Equal Right Claimed “Now this is the very crux of the situation, and should not be lost sight of when considering Japanese actions in China. Such an important reservation toy the British Government was equally allowable to Japan, to whom the condition of China is a vital matter. “The encroachments cf a foreign Power —Soviet Russia—and the disorders of the Ciiine.se Government created a situation in China as vitally disturbing to Japan as if a hostile Power were to occupy Ireland and openly make preparations for armed descent upon the 'British Isles. “Not only in the case of Manchuria in 1932. tout also in the present case, the ’Chinese Government and local governments exercised the utmost discrimination against Japan in contravention of her existing treaty rights, and in the crisis of 1936-37. the Nationalist Government had not scrupled to organise ■boycotts against Japan and discriminate against her trade and nationals in the most provocative fashion, with great help from Soviet Russia. Alleged Soviet Designs “Soviet Russia, taking advantage of j (he chaotic condition of China and I intending to establish Soviet influence

in China, singled out Japan for attack. “Japan has no desire to establish sovereignty over even one square foot of Chinese soil—no more than she has done in Manchuria, which now enjoys a stable system of self-government. “Of all" Japan’s foreign investments, more than 80 per cent are located in China. The Japanese nation is engaged in a life and death struggle, and the Japanese people are solidly supporting their Government in this gravest challenge to the security of their country in all its long history. It is a struggle for self-preservation, and the Japanese nation will not be thwarted in its progress toward its objective,”