JAPAN’S STAND

Hokitika Guardian, 18 February 1933, Page 6

JAPAN’S STAND

VIEWS OF FOREIGN MINISTER

LONDON, ■ February ' 11,

Id tfli© courge of a speech ‘in the Japanese Di«t, th© Foreign Minister. Count. Uehicla, ,said : “The report of of what has come to be called the Lytton Commission on the SiiiO-Japan e&e question' was submitted to tlie Council of the League of Nations in October and the observations of the Japanese Government on the game report were submitted in November to . the same body. Since these documents were both made public, their contents a-i’e already known to you nil. Our observations are simply an elaboration from different angles of the fundamental view of the Japanese Government that the peace of the Far East can he «e c ured only bv recognising Manehukuo and assisting it to achieve a healthy growth.

‘ Our . Government has seized -every occasion at th e Council and Assembly of the League and in the course of negotiatioiiis with other Governments to expound this thesis of observations with the utmost care- aiid' thoroughness. We will persist in our endeavours,- not on.lv as regards the Special Committee of Nineteen, but at various •meetings of the League and at every possible opportunity rintl the above thes'S is thoiougblv elucidated and understood. It is hardly necessary to eav that th e Japanese Government, which has always extended its hearty c o.oporation to the league and devoted its best efforts to the enhancement of > ts P rG - sti S°> » read . v now as ever to collaborate fully and in the friendliest manner with that body in .its efforts to contribute to the peace and prosperity of the Ear East-. “However, tli e Japanese Government believes that, a,3 lona «•« the League s concerned with questions relating to China, -certain elasticity should be allowed in the operation of the Covenant in view of th.<* exceptional and abnormal conditions of that country. In point of fact, various principles of international law and usage governing ordinary relationships between different States n r e, in practice, considerably modified when appl’ed to China. “The Covenant of t-h e League cannot alone remain -an exception to that rule. Any attempt to apply the Covenant to the abnormal situation in China on the analogy of an apparently similar case or' situation in European affairs is, bound to fail. Such an attempt is vain and unrealistic. It will only complicate and aggravate the (situation and injure needleisslv the prestige of the League, indicting thereby a sever e blow to the cause of universal -peace.

“For securing permanent peace in the Orient, the co-operation and united -efforts of Japan, China and Manehukuo arj> essential. At the same time harmony and collaboration between Japan. Manehukuo and Soviet Russia are equally important/’