PACIFIC POLICY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 December 1940, Page 7

PACIFIC POLICY

CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON AUSTRALIAN MINISTER & MR HULL. MUTUALLY SATISFACTORY EXCHANGE. (By Telegraph—Press Associaiton—Copyright) WASHINGTON, December 3. 1 lie Australian Minister, Sir Casey, conferred with the State Secretary, Mr Hull, on the Pacific situation. Mr Casey afterward said : “We exchanged some mutually satisfactory observations.”

Later Mr Casey apneared as a witness before the Export Control Board in behalf of the early release of large orders of machine tools for Australia, believed to be’valued at some millions of dollars.

ANGER IN JAPAN FEELING AGAINST UNITED STATES. THREATS IN TOKIO PRESS. LONDON, December 3. Anti-American feeling is being whipped up in -Japan as a rejoinder to the Washington announcement of a 100-000,000-dollar loan to the Chinese to help them dear the Japanese out of their country. The Tokio Press takes a threatening tone, and one paper says the SinoJapanese conflict has already ceased to be one between Japan and China, and refers to action of much greater importance yet to come. Relations between Japan and the United Slates, says the newspaper, are now so seriously strained that the position does not allow for any wishful thinking. Reports from the Japanese capital say that the police have been ordered to take steps to protect Americans against results of the Press campaign ordered by the same quarter. It is reported that extra police guard the United States Embassy, and similar measures are being taken throughout Japan to guard against the consequences of anti-American demonstrations. American reports from Berlin state that Germany is still maintaining diplomatic relations with the Chungking Government in spite of the fact that Japan has signed a treaty with the puppet Government of Mi - Wang Ching-wei. According to reports from Berlin, the Three-Power Pact is intended for future aggressors against Germany, Italy and Japan. Though Russia has not commented on the pact with Mr Wang, she is reported to be continuing her assistance to General Chiang Kai-shek. The Turkish radio points out that while Germany and Italy are allies of Japan, the Soviet, so fd'r, at least, is in the othex- camp in the Far East, and, with Britain and the United States, is aiding the Chinese. In Ankara it is thought that the terms of the Japanese Pact with Mr Wang are definitely anti-Soviet. An agency report from Moscow says the Japanese Ambassador there has been discussing Far Eastern fishing rights with the Soviet Foreign Office. On the other hand, Berlin has been saying that he is negotiating a nonaggression pact with Russia.

SHANGHAI BLOCKADE DECLARED BY JAPAN. FOLLOWING ON ANOTHER MURDER. SHANGHAI, December 3. Japanese gendarmes yesterday announced a formal blockade of the Japanese-controlled western settlement area following the murder of another gendarme at the weekend by a Chinese gunman. They issued regulations undex- which foreign residents will be permitted entrance or exit subject to the discretion of Japanese officers in issuing passes. The Japanese are said to be considering a relaxation of the food blockade. The Municipal Council has requested consular representatives to do theixutmost to bring about a relaxation of the blockade.

FAMINE IN PROSPECT SHANGHAI, December 4. The blockade has entered the third day, and the barricaded area resembles a besieged city. The spectre of famine hovers over thousands of Chinese m the marooned area, as little fresh food is allowed to enter. In the meantime the Japanese are conducting a house-to-house search.