FRENCH COLLAPSE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 September 1940, Page 5

FRENCH COLLAPSE

SURRENDER IN INDO=CHINA

FOLLOWING ON ATTACK BY JAPANESE

AGREEMENT TO ADMIT GARRISON.

WITH USE OF AIRPORTS AND RAILWAY.

(By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) HAIPHONG, September 23. An agreement between the Japanese and French has been signed and fighting has ceased. The agreement, which is effective immediately, provides for the entrance for garrisoning purposes of 6000 Japanese via Haiphong, and the use of three airports in Tongking and the Phuto-Kaokay or Phulang-Thoung-Gialam railway. The Governor-Admiral Decoux, issued a proclamation stating that the agreement conformed- to “realistic policy.” He said Japan had agreed to recognise Indo-China’s integrity and France’s sovereignty. Admiral Decoux added that the army commander-in-chief, General Maurice Martin, was supporting the arrangement. An earlier message from Hanoi said the Japanese had crossed the border and were attacking Dong Dang, on the north-east frontier of Indo-China, about 100 miles north-east of Hanoi. The French fully resisted the attacks, which were suspended at midnight. However, the French officials expected the Japanese to resume their attacks at dawn. The Japanese were assaulting Dong Dang contrary to a Franco-Japanese agreement giving the Japanese certain military facilities, including airfields. -SIAMESE ACTION NON-AGGRESSION PACT DENOUNCED. LONDON, September 23. Thailand (Siam) has denounced its non-aggression pact with France. The Thai Prime Minister said this action had been taken because France had rejected Thailand’s territorial demands in China. INVASION DENIED ENTRY OF JAPANESE TROOPS. MADE IN ACCORDANCE WITH AGREEMENT. TOKIO, September 23. In connection witli last night’s Franco-Japanese “incidents” on the Indo-China border. an authorised source declares that the Japanese in no way "invaded” Indo-China. They were merely entering the territory in accordance with vhe terms of the agreement permitting them to pass troops. That the French resisted them must have been due to a misunderstanding, but the matter was soon settled amicably. It is officially stated that there is a “small number of Japanese troops

dead or wounded as a result of the “Dong Dang clash.” The Foreign Office spokesman, Mr Suma, attributed the Dong Dang skirmish to delay in communicating the terms of the agreement to the French border officers. Mr Suma said Japan was entirely without territorial designs in IndoChina and did not intend to provoke the French. Inasmuch as the agreement was based on peaceful talks between tile two countries, there could be no objection to it from any foreign country. PEACEFUL ADVANCE REPORTED BY TOKIO. TOKIO. September 23. An official joint communique issued by the Japanese Army and Navy at 11 a.m. states: "Units of the army and navy today started a peaceful advance through Indo-China.”