WAR IN THE EAST

Hokitika Guardian, 2 March 1933, Page 5

WAR IN THE EAST

TIENTSIN’S DEFENCE

JAP VICTORIES EXAGGERATED.

(.United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.)

SHANGHAI, March 1

Chinese and Japanese are both feverishly erecting defences in Tientsin, which is at present a powder magazine, and is 'liable to explode on the ■slightest provocation. Jjhould the Japanese cross the Great Wall, it is- hard to forecast what will be the reaction, in Tientsin and in Peking, although the Chinese offer to guarantee the protection of the Japan, cse and other nationals even while they are resisting * the Japanese northern encroachment. There are fears of the extension of the hostilities inside the Great Wall, which have increased as the result of the Tokyo War 'Office making a statement indicating that if the Chinese continue to offer resistence at Jehol, the Japanese would be compelled to take precautionary military measures inside ithe Wall. Meanwhile the fierceness of the Japanese attack on Jehol has slackened. •

Japanese sources claim that Chamois h&« 'hae been occupied and that the fail of Chifeng is imminent. The Chinese claim that the Japanese victories have been exaggerated, they declaring that it is impossible for the Japanese to make such a rapid advance as claimed

JAP BOYCOTT TJRGED

, SPEECH BY LORD CECIL,

LONDON, March 1. Lord Cecil, speaking at Leeds, endorsed Britain’s glno-Japanese arms embargo as being a first step; but the only means of ©topping the war, he said, :was the prohibiting of the export of arms to Japan only. “When a householder is fighting a burglar, the burglar must be compelled to drop his weapons first, the householder retaining his until he is sa 'f e - Japan should be .shown hhdt ,sh e will not be financially-helped to break the International Law.

He advocated, as a formidable expression of world opinion, that the ambassadors and the ministers of. all of the League countries, and of every nation outside the League, should be withdrawn from Tokio, thus morally isolating Japan. The . pro-Japanese newspapers,. he added, had charged . the Council of the League with over-harshness, whereas, if anything, it was too glow and soft. BRITISH EMBARGO CRITICISED. BY JAPANESE DELEGATE. PARIS, February 28. M. M'atsuoka, who is going to The Hague to prepare a .non-aggression pact in connection witn tne Dutch East Indies, in an interview, described Britain’s embargo as a masterpiece of diplomacy. M. IMatsuoka said; “I would be better pleased if the British embargo was limited to Japan, as we womu. then be legally justified in searching R hi.p, s and in seizing the arms destined for China. The British decision avoids all international complications.” The embargo, he added, would not harm Japan, as slhe wr.s producing what she needed at home. “Arms sent to China;” he e aid, “will merely serve to equip the Chinese war lords, who will then Vje able to fight among themselves.”

RUSSIAN ARMS FOR 'CHINA

LONDON, February 28

The *Daily Mail’s” Riga correspondent .reports that the petrograd munition plant is said to be working night and day in producing guns and ammunition for China, to which Moscow has granted large credits.. The delivery of tlhe armaments is being made via Mongolia. JAP AIR ACTION ANTICIPATED.

PEKING, February 28. ,She Sydney “Sun” correspondent learns that the Japanese aeroplane carrier “Hosho,” arrived recently at Port Arthur, and has been seen off China at Wangtao. -The presence of this large vessel, with its accommodation ifo r 26 machines, strengthens the belief that Japan contemplates action along the 'North China coast. EMBARGO FOR is. AMERICA. (LONDON. February 28. • At Geneva, Dr Wellington Koo, at the League Council, .supported the British proposal for an arms embargo against Bolivia and Paraguay on the grounds that it was not clear which is the aggressor. CHINA CONCERNED AT EMBARGO PLAYING INTO JAPANESE HANDS (Received Merob 2 at 8.80 a.m.) SHANGHAI, March 1. f£\- r nbinr-e arc. much concerned, at t.to British . r ” i no l " n cem nr| t of the arms pmbaro-o, P”.d claim this is playing into tho lia-’dis of the who have a Ire ad " .Chine’s bi"rwt. arsenal, at Mukden, which is being utilised against the Chinese:

riUAN SCORNS ARMS EMBARGO

DENIES SUPPLIES FROM BRITAIN (deceived this day at 11.40 a.m.j KOBE, March 1* The military authorities in an informal statement say that the army has not purchased arms from Britain and America. Some orders for special guns were placed with France, but after completion more were not required because the Japanese manufactures were better. lTTfe arms boycott does not affect Japan in the slightest, naval authorities declare. They are indifferent because tne navy for years past has made its own requirements. Japanese guns are very superior, also the warships. The navy in 1931 purchased British aeroplanes, and found them inferior to the Japanese. ,Tlie customs returns slio'w last year’s imports of firearms over seven fold compared with the previous year, while the January imports were thirty fold, as against those in January, 1931.

JAPANESE IFORCE REPULSED. ‘ PEKING, March 1.

A dramatic encounter between SinoJapauese troops in a snow-driven pass is described in Chinese despatches. Failing to force the strong Chines* -positions r.t Phishif, portion of the Japanese made a sortie through a small ravine. They were toiling up this rocky ravine when they spotted Die figures of Chinese troops silhouetted along the lTdge. Mistaking these for an isolated band of guerillas the Japanese pushed forward and upward, when suddenly the defenders opened lire. The Japanese found themselves at grips with a force of two thousand regulars, and after a fierce engagement, the Japanese were compelled to retreat.