NO DESIRE FOR CONQUEST

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21368, 12 March 1941, Page 6

NO DESIRE FOR CONQUEST

Documents connected with the present war will eventually go into the archives of the nations and form the basis of history yet to be written. If some future historian stumbles upon this statement by the Japanese Ambassador to the German people on March 9, 1941, what interpretation will he place upon it?: “Japan desires conquest no more than_Germany is fighting this war for conquest. That which the nations of the Tripartite Agreement already know should be realised everywhere—that conquest by violence is immoral ” ? There in cold type in the Volkischer Boebachter is one of the most astonishing statements of the age. Lieutenant-Colonel Oshima is the new Japanese Ambassador to Berlin. Apparently he will receive a very warm welcome from the Nazis, for he is showing an extraordinary readiness to please. Can it be possible that he believes his statement and that the Germans will accept it as a true summary of the Axis policy ? That would surely be stretching credulity too far. Besides, it clashes with the policy laid down by Hitler in “ Mein Kampf ” and followed so enthusiastically ever since. But wait! Hitler also said in his crude work that lying was good policy, and the bigger the lie the better. Perhaps that is the explanation of Oshima’s statement. The sceptical might even ask whether Oshima placed particular emphasis upon the word “ more ” in the passage quoted. They might indeed ask many questions but they will inevitably arrive at the one conclusion. But Oshima did not claim virtue for the Japanese policy in conjunction with Germany alone. His mind ranged back to Japan’s own quarrel with China and her relations with the United States. “ All Japan wants is a free and better China,” he said. With regard to the United States he added : “ It appears to me that America does not want to understand our honest will for peace.” The statement was, of course, made for consumption in Germany, but even so the feeling is inescapable that Japan has made an unfortunate choice in this important appointment to Berlin.