FRENCH AND BRITISH AREAS AT TIENTSIN

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 June 1939, Page 7

FRENCH AND BRITISH AREAS AT TIENTSIN

Surrounded by Japanese Troops FOREIGNERS LINED UP AT SEARCHING POSTS BRITISH COMPROMISE PROPOSAL REJECTED By Telegraph.—Press Association,- -Copyright. LONDON, June 14. A message from Tientsin states that the Japanese blockade of the British and French Concessions began at 6 a.m. (local time). It is authoritatively reported in Hong Kong that the Japanese rejected the British Government’s proposal for a committee of three —one British representative and one Japanese with a neutral chairman, preferably American, to determine whether the lour alleged Chinese terrorists should be handed over. . ■ Women and children of British and other nationalities have mostly left Tientsin for the seaside and Peking. Japanese troops have entirely surrounded the Foreign Concessions, with strong forces manning barricades and blocking all but two roads leading to the concessions. Long queues of foreigners lined up at the seven searching posts. Hundreds of Chinese arriving at the. barriets eailj this morning on their way to work were forced to pass through narrow alleyways. Their clothing was stripped off behind closed doors, the search being carried out at the rate of one a minute. Britons were closely inspected, whereas French and American nationals were passed after a perfunctory identification. Motor-cars flying German and Italian flags were not halted and searched. The streets are deserted and the flow of goods has stopped. Though the Japanese spokesman stated that food would be admitted, prices already have soared by 50 per cent. The concessions at present have ample stocks of flour and other commodities. The most serious feature of the blockade is the threat to foreign trade.