BIRTHDAY BATTLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 814, 7 November 1929, Page 9

BIRTHDAY BATTLE

REDS READY TO LAUNCH ATTACK SKIRMISH IN MANCHURIA Reed. 9 a.m. SHANGHAI, Wednesday. Chinese armies on ail the fronts in Manchuria are being strengthened in anticipation of an attack by Soviet troops. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the birth of the Soviet Republic, and a general Soviet drive is expected. Apart from sporadic fighting over a small area,. the position is quiet, though Soviet airplanes continue to fly over the Chinese defences, dropping bombs and destroying railway tracks and depots. The German Consul at Harbin reports that 2,000 Chinese prisoners who are detained by the Soviet troops are starving and are without winter clothing. He requests the National Government to send immediate relief, the consul undertaking the distribution, otherwise hundreds of the prisoners are likely to perish. SINO-JAPANESE CONFLICT DEADLOCK THREATENED AT CONFERENCE LITTLE PROGRESS MADE TOKYO, Wednesday. At the conference of the Pacific Relations Institute the discussions, particularly that concerning aspects of the Manchurian situation, threaten to end in a deadlock. The insitence of the Chinese delegates upon the sovereign rights of China and their indignation at alleged abuses arising from Japanese privileges led them to demand the abolition of the principal parts of the machinery for the control of South Manchuria. The Japanese delegates are standing firm on the sanctity of the treaties and they put the Kwantung and South Manchurian railway leases beyond question. Furthermore, the Japanese lay stress upon the economic aspect and the need for protection against possible Russian penetration into Manchuria; also upon the vital importance of the maintenance of the organic and economic relationship between Japan and Manchuria, and the security of food, raw materials and markets in both cases. On their own premises their argument is unanswerable. For these reasons little progress has been made. However, a hopeful sign is the absence of bitterness and the growing recognition that the existing situation is unsatisfactory to both sides, hence the need for discussion and an attempt to reach a compromise. The Japanese delegate, Mr. Matsuoka, is again the outstanding figure in the discussions. -