JAPANESE AIMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 February 1941, Page 5

JAPANESE AIMS

BASES IN INDO-CHINA & THAILAND FOLLOWING ON MEDIATION. ANTICIPATED NAVAL ACTION. , ' >By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. February 1, Following the announcement of the signing of an I. armistice agreement between Thailand and French IndoChina. a message from Saigon i says it is anticipated that i -Japan as a reward for her mediation in the affair will demand naval bases in southern Indo-China and southern ! Thailand for the purpose of facilitating possible moves against Singapore or the Netherlands East Indies, Meanwhile, the message adds, it is reliably stated that Japan will soon send a fleet of 15 battleships, cruisers ! and auxiliaries to control permanently the Gulf of Siam. The Saigon correspondent of the > American Associated Press says the Thailand armistice provides that both armies withdraw 10 kilometres behind the positions they occupied on January 28. The line follows the border except at several points where Thailand forces I penetrated Cambodia (south-west : Indo-China) and one point in Laos. The ' two navies are forbidden to cross a line ; extending from the border into the ; Gulf of Siam, and aircraft have been i ordered to be held at least 20 kiloi metres behind the lines. I The Japanese have been authorised > to supervise the execution of the agreement, which was signed yesterday morning aboard a Japanese warship at Saigon. A peace ’conference between the two countries is to be held in Tok io. AXIS PLOTTING ALLEGED IN SINGAPORE. MENACE SEEN TO MALAYA. SINGAPORE. January 31. A Thai Consulate communique claims that the territories which formi cd the subject of the original Thai de- ! mands have been completely occupied by the Thai forces and have been incorporated in Thailand. The Singapore “Free Press” claims

that behind the Japanese mediation in the Franco-Thailand conflict lies a story of Axis plotting which eventually. perhaps very soon, may lead to an extension of the war in the Far East. Japan, it is stated, is determined to master Indo-China and Thailand as a result of which Malaya "is in real danger of finding herself engaged in war in the next few months." Developments, both actual and potential constitute an attempt to outflank Singapore in order to attack from the rear. DUTCH INDIES NOT ENTERING NEW ORDER IN ASIA. INTIMATION BY MINISTER IN TOK 10.

RUGBY, February I It is announced in London that the Netherlands Minister in Tok io. General Pabst, has been instructed to deliver a message to the Japanese Government to the effect that whatever may have been the real meaning of the words used by the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mr Matsuoka. in a speech in the Diet in January with reference to the Netherlands East Indies, the Netherlands Government will reject any suggestion of having the East Indies incorporated in a new order in East Asia under the leadership qf any Power whatsoever. At the same time. General Pabst stated, his Government can never be expected either to let its actions be guided by the spirit of such a conception of a new order in the Far East er to acquiesce in the consequences of its eventual application. In the course of the speech referred to Mr Matsuoka, according to agency reports, said: "The Netherlands East Indies and French Indo-China. if only for geographical reasons, should be in intimate and inseparable relationship with, our country.”