FIGHTING BREAKS OUT,

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 219, 16 August 1937, Page 7

FIGHTING BREAKS OUT,

CARNAGE AT SHANGHAI. PANIC AMONG REFUGEES. SHANGHAI. Aug. 15. Fierce fighting between Japanese and Chinese forces has broken out in Shanghai. The Japanese warships have opened a heavy bombardment and the retaliation by Chinese aeroplanes has precipitated a desperate situation for the residents of the city. The International Settlement is a scene of unprecedented carnage as the result of Chinese bombs falling- in it. The Japanese are maintaining an artillery bombardment from the north, and the city is surrounded by wellequipped Chinese troops, who are pressing onward in an advance so far unimpeded by the Japanese fire. Prior to the Japanese bombardment, Chinese ’planes unsuccessfully tried to bomb tho Japanese flagship Idumo, which was moored opposite' the Japanese Consulate. The Japanese squadron’s anti-aircraft guns in retailiation literally rocked the city. The raiders escaped. Chinese refugees became madly panic-stricken, wailing “There is' no end to our woes.” On the other hand, grim-faced Japanese muttered, “Now it is war.”

A raid against the barracks at the Japanese headquarters also failed. Fighting went on throughout the night in driving rain on the northern border of the International Settlement. Two British warehouse); caught fire. The Japanese occupied all the international areas north of Soocliow Creek and closed the bridges spanning it, thus cutting off the stream of refugees. LOOTERS FRUSTRATED. During the air raid, Japanese, armed with clubs, and including women, smashed the street lamps in the Hongkew district. The -British police frustrated Chinese looters. Many Chinese houses have hoisted British ' and other flags in the hope they will afford, protection. Many are offering to sell their babies for as low as 3s a head to foreigners in the hope that they may escape death. Protection is being organised for children separated from their parents. The foreign Consuls are making further efforts to bring about a truce. Eight Japanese warships are reported to have -blocked up the Wangpoo River. The Chinese claim advances on both wings in an attack on the Japanese cotton mills in north-east Shanghai, which, if it is followed up by stronger forces, will place the outnumbered Japanese in a difficult position. The Japanese on the north Szechuan Road are unable to use their armoured cars for fear of devastating their own settlement.

The Japanese are protesting against aerial violation at the International Settlement and threaten reprisals. They hinted that they may bomb Nanking. Admiral Hasegawa’s order to the Chinese to depart from the neighbourhood of Chinese military establishments is interpreted as a prelude to a Japanese naval bombardment of Nanking. Pandemonium was renewed when a second attempt was made by three ’planes to bomb the Idumo. MARTIAL LAW. The Nanking Government has proclaimed martial law at Shanghai and Nanking, and the Shanghai and Hankow railway zones. The Chinese have entered the Janghsiang area. Misjudged Chinese bombs caused a shambles at the junction of the Nanking Road and Edward VII. A number of foreigners are among the casualties, including several British and Americans. The body of Dr. Rawlinson, a prominent American missionary, was found in a shattered motor-car. The lives of the entire foreign population were endangered as the bombers passed over and anti-air-craft shells screamed over the International Settlement. Foreigners and Chinese are lying side -by side in ghastly' heaps. At least 1000 have been killed. The lighting system has been destroyed and the darkness is hampering relief work. The matron of the Shanghai Hospital says the wards are so filled with foreign victims that it is impossible to check the names. A bomb hit the British-owned

Asiatic Petroleum Company’s stores, the flames lighting up the night sky. The .artillery duel continued after nightfall. An official Chinese statement declares that, ignoring the pledges to seek a settlement of Monday’s incident through diplomatic channels, Japan is feverishly precipitating major hostilities. STILL “SELF-DEFENCE.” The Japanese Admiral still insists lie is acting in self-defence and has ignored the representations of European authorities asking for the withdrawal of 'the Japanese warships. Mistaking her for a Japanese cruiser, Chinese airmen bombed but missed the British warship Cumberland near Woosung. The International Settlement, which hitherto has been regarded as a refuge, has been the scene .of havoc and carnage hitherto unexampled. The police report that the bomb explosions in the densely packed area of the Avenue Edward VII and the Nanking Road killed 506 and wounded 903. The wounded included two English officials and many Europeans. The Chinese failure to calculate their direction and speed is attributed to the strength of the typhoon wind, which delayed the arrival of Japanese transports supposed to be steaming full speed to Shanghai with reinforcements to prevent a possible Japanese evacuation. TRAMPLED TO DEATH. In the meanwhile the Japanese war machine is functioning relentlessly, maintaining an artillery bombardment from the north of the station and driving hundreds into the settlement from the north side of Soochow Creek. Several have been trampled to death iu the mad stampede. A hundred panic-stricken persons were caught between the Chinese and Japanese forces and faced a storm of machine-gun bullets. Whdn at last a lull supervened, ambulances went out to succour the wounded and dying. Three huge fires are still lighting up the murky sky and the streets are almost deserted, and all places of business and amusement are closed.

British subjects, in accordance with orders, have evacuated the settlement north of Soochow Creek. British and French sailors were landed and rushed by lorry to the defensive areas. Chinese ’planes are reported to have frustrated an attempt to land Japanese marines from tho warships in the Yangtse estuary. Vice-Admiral Hasegawa rejected the suggestion of the captain of the British warship Danae to remove the Idumo to a position less dangerous, to the International Settlement on account of the Chinese making airbombing raids. Admiral Hasegawa. said Japan could not change the position of its warships unless the neutrals gave guarantees for tho protection of Japanese life and property equal to that provided by the warships. WOMAN’S APPEAL. Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, daughter-in-law of the late Theodore Roosevelt, appealed to Madame Kai-sliek to use her influence to stop the bombing of Shanghai at least until the safety of foreigners and refugees was assured. An official Japanese report states that Japanese infantry entrenched on the Jukon Road and in the Chapei district repulsed a Chinese attack, which was later renewed, and also repulsed an attack on tho Japanese general headquarters in Hongkew Park. .

The nightmare took a fresh lease of life when the gunners on both sides swelled the death-roll of Shanghai’s metropolis by relentlessly pounding each other’s positions. Typhoon winds and drenching rain have been sweeping the city. The apprehensiveness of the Japanese attackers can be appreciated when it is known that they have not checked the slow but apparently unimpeded advance of the Chinese forces from the north-east and the north. Official Japanese reports admit that these are' pressing on strongly and that Chinese shells have caused fires within the Japanese lines. The Japanese, are replying to the Chinese t«rrust with all the availblo artillery, machine-guns and armoured cars. Europeans, fearing further Chinese air raids, are spending the night in cellars. DESPERATE SITUATION. The city’s situation seems desperate, surrounded as it is by well-armed Chinese troops anxious to avenge

themselves for previous humiliations at the hands of the Japanese. A message from Nanking says that the British, French and American representatives are protesting to China against the bombing of the Internationa Settlement. The Chinese are investigating the situation. General Chiang Kai-shek promised he would punisli the Chinese air pilots if he found that their bombing of the Settlement was duo to careless marksmanship. SHOOTING OF SAILORS.

A report from Tsingtao says that the Japanese blame Chinese and the Chinese blame Japanese for the shooting of the two Japanese sailors on August 9, to which a Japanese statement ascribed the present situation. They were members of a patrol of five men who were shot at, according to tlm Japanese version, by a Chinese cyclist, with the result a petty officer was wounded. The party pursued the cyclist, who fired again, fatally wounding a sailor. The Japanese are guarding the scene of the incident with drawn revolvers. The British, American and Japanese Consuls are investigating the incident. The Chinese say that the Japanese sailors were wounded by a Japanese reservist whom they were trying to arrest.

BRITISH DISAPPOINTMENT

SPREAD OF CONFLAGRATION

(British Official Wireless.) Received August 16, 11.37 a.m. RUGBY, Aug. 14. The news from Shanghai disappoints the hope that the hostilities between tlie Chinese and Japanese forces might be arrested. The British and other Governments interested in the maintenance of the immunity of the International Settlement remain in- close touch, and the Japanese and Chinese authorities are aware of the importance which these Governments attach to the safety of the settlement and the observance oy the military forces of both sides, of the conditions necessary to ensure it. Commenting editorially on the situation in the Far East, both the Daily Telegraph and the Morning Post find grounds for optimism in the belief that neither of the two parties desire war. The Morning Post, after rehearsing the events at Shanghai says: “The motives for yesterday’s fighting are not so transparent. It seems unlikely that either Japan or China is anxious to go to war. The incidents themselves would certainly not justify it. A war between Japan and China would profit nobody. Japan might defy China; she could not conquer her. China might successfully resist a Japanese invasion, hut she would be terribly weakened by the effort.” The Daily Telegraph says: Whether both the Lioukouehiao and Shanghai aerodrome incidents were deliberately provoked or not, there will be no doubt that they have served their purpose in the designs of the Japanese military, but the Tokio Government may yet have power to promote a settlement W r hat Japan seeks, as her statesmen have indicated, is not territorial pos sessions but new economic outlets. The present hostilities are losing her existing markets. The well wishers of Japan as well as the friends of China must hope that the responsible elements in Tokio will yet regain control and that terms acceptable to General Chiang Kai-shek will be offered before the conflagration is extended still further.”

NO HASTY ACTION,

ATTITUDE IN AMERICA

WASHINGTON,. Aug. 14,

The Government leaders refuse to be stampeded into hasty action concerning China and Japan, despite demands from a section led by Senator Nye for the invocation of the Neutrality Act. The Secretary of State (Mr Cordell Hull) announced that the United States urged China and Japan not to make Shanghai a base for military operations, and added: “The navy is ready to protect and evacuate nationals.” Meanwhile President Roosevelt, who is spending the week-end on his yacht in the Potomac River, is hourly in touch with developments, which strengthens the belief that the invocation of the Act is not ail entirely remote possibility. Most newspapers are not commenting, but the New York journal, The American, appears to sum up the weight of public opinion thus: “America’s concern is the ivotection of her people. The Sino-Japanese war isn’t our war.”