Japan's Declaration of War

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 14, 9 October 1937, Page 5

Japan's Declaration of War

• Presn A?sn.-

ARMY'S THREAT Use AH Means in Power to Subdue Opponents SUCCESS IN THE N0RTH

(Bj Telegraph-

-Copjrrigbt-l

(Received y, li.ou a.m.; SHANGHAI, Oct. 8. General Matsui has issued a proclamation which is regarded as the army's declaration of war. It is to the effect that the army is now preparcd to use every means in its power to subdue its opponents. Its objectives are to establish foundationa for firm and lasting peace in East Asia and to protect Japanese interests from the scourge of the Chinese Govefbment Army, which is pusuing an antiJapanese policy. A Peiping message reports that the Japanese routed the Chinese left flank in the walled and moated city of Chenting and captured the north.-east gates. The Japanese on the other flank pierced Chinese lines at Pingehan. It is -reported from Tokio that the Chinese resistance in the Hopei province has broken down and that the Chinese armies are sacrificing valuable positions which they .are expected to defend. The whole of the Qhinese forees massed at Chengting are withdrawing and are also abandoning Chichiachwang. The Chinese around Yucheng, taking advantage of tho floods, are retteating by water. The Japanese War Office reports that 56,767 Chinese corpses have been countod in the area occupied by the Japanese on the .Shanghai front. The Japanese, according to a Tokio cable, claim that ihe Chinese have lost half their strength in the Shanghai sector. A report from Nanking quotes a statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Office to the effect that it has definitely been ascertained that the Japanese used gases causing diecomfort to tne eyes, nausea and coma, in the Lotien Liuhang sector on the night of October 4. A message from Shanghai states that the country, due to rain, is in a state of quagmire, rendering the Chinese defences semi-impregnable. The general position has not changed. Fighting waist-high in water-logged trenchee and tropical rain, the Chinese are still holding the Japanese, who are attempting to force a wedge into an eight-mile sector between Kaingwan and Liuhang. The casualtiee on. both sides are heavy. Xd response to Madame Chiang Kaishek's appeal, the China Campaign Committee in London has shipped t'ull supplies of anaesthetics, sefum and medical storee. Twenty Chinese medical students have alreddy gone to Chiha to render service in the fighting line. The Chinese are tricking Jap&neso airmen by building papier maehe bombefs and leaving them in fields aud aerodromes^ thus diverting Japanese bombs from civilians and troops. Tho bombs drop harmlessly on the fake planes. Thia explains the recont Japanese claims to the destruction of Chinese aeroplane« on the ground.