AID TO ALLIES

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 20660, 10 January 1942, Page 5

AID TO ALLIES

CHINESE IN BURMA MORE MEN IF NEEDED JAP. PLANS DEFEATED (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) LONDON, Jan. 7. In a speech in London, Dr. Wellington Koo, Chinese Ambassador to Britain, referring to the recent joint declaration of 26 nations at Washington, described it as an epochmaking event. He added: The promptness with which tne agreement was reached and carried out the establishment of unified commands in the Uvo principal theatres of war in Asia was proof of the solidarity of the united nations and of their determination that the freedom front in Asia will be defended at all costs.

Turning to the Japanese war on China, Dr. Wellington Koo said that for four and a-half years China had continuously fought against overwhelming odds a formidable foe and she would be willing to fight for another equally long period if necessary. The despatch of Chinese troops to Burma within a week following the inter-Allied military conference at Chungking might be considered characteristic of China’s mood in the war and her readiness to respond to any call for collaboration. As the military spokesman of the Chinese Government recently declared in confirming the presence of Chinese forces under General Wavell’s command, more would be sent if more were needed. Speaking of the Japanese attack on Changsha, Dr. Wellington Koo said the objective of this Japanese offensive was to gain control of the CantonHankow railway in order to be able to send reinforcements quickly through Canton to the theatre of war in Malaya. But China fully anticipated this move and was not caught unprepared. In the resultant grapple with a treacherous enemy, the Chinese forces had for the second time in three years succeeded in defeating them before the very gates of this key city.