ALARM LN TIENTSIN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 March 1939, Page 7

ALARM LN TIENTSIN

CONCESSIONS CLOSELY BARRICADED LIVE WIRES AND MACHINE GUNS. JAPANESE INTENTIONS SUSPECTED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON, March 7. Foreigners in Tientsin view with apprehension the erection by the Japanese of impenetrable barricades of live wire round the foreign concessions. The concessions are being transformed into virtual concentration camps, and all exits, except for a few main thoroughfares which are guarded by armed Japanese and Chinese police, are being shut off, and machine-gun emplacements dominate strategic points. Residents are also puzzled by the construction of mysterious brick buildings resembling barracks in areas controlled by the Japanese as well as guardhouses in the streets. The Japanese are also believed to be meditating measures to hamper British shipping and road traffic. BELLICOSE TALK MAILED FIST TO CRUSH HONG KONG. JAPANESE POLITICIAN’S OUTBURST. SHANGHAI, March 7. “Japan should have crushed Hong Kong with a mailed fist,” declared Mr Seigo Nakano, the well-known politician and journalist, when addressing the Japanese community today. He vehemently advocated the use of force to prevent British ships bringing arms and munitions to China. CAPTURE OF PAOYANG. GUERILLAS NOT SUBDUED. LONDON, March 7. The Shanghai correspondent of “The Times” says that the Japanese claim to have captured Paoying, an important town on the Grand Canal. It is admitted, however, that the Chinese guerillas have not been subdued and that the countryside has not been pacified, despite mopping-up operations.