PLAN FOR DEFENCE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20043, 15 September 1939, Page 7

PLAN FOR DEFENCE

INTERNATIONAL ACTION JAPAN WANTS REVISION CHANGE IN PROPOSALS AMERICAN INFLUENCE (Eloc. Tel. Copyright —United Press Assn.) (Reed. Sept. 15, 9 a.m.) NEW YORK, Sept. 14. The Shanghai correspondent of the New York Times states that tension was heightened on Thursday morning when the Japanese naval commander called a meeting of the British, French, Italian and American defence force commanders at the Japanese naval headquarters.

It was conjectured that the Japanese would present new demands, possibly coupled with a time limit, for the disarming and ■ for the departure of British and French forces from the Settlement Concession.

It has just been revealed that when the Japanese first proposed the withdrawal of the British and French forces from Shanghai, they offered to guarantee the inviolability of the defence sectors around foreign areas, even though they were manned only by policemen.

To the vast relief of the international population, the Japanese did not bring up the questions of evacuation and disarmament. Instead they mildly suggested that the time had arrived to revise international plans for defence, contending that this was necessary in view of the changed conditions.

The upshot of a protracted session was a decision that the chiefs of staff should meet on an unstated date to devise revisions to toe submitted to the commanders for approval. The toelief is current that the statement of Mr. Cordell Hull, Secretary of State, expressing America’s determination to resist a further abrogation of rights and interests in China, caused a last-minute change in the Japanese proposals.