Evening star., 1922-01-16
|BR|T|SHFORT PLAN
I NEW PARLEY ISSUE
BY JUNIUs b. WOOD.


her Gibraltar of the orient have agar
been brought into the foreground b,
Pthe deadlock in the conference nava
committee over Pacific fortifications
1t can be stated that Japan has beer
ready to take an extremely liberia
attitude in regard to her own fortif1
cations, following her definition O.
what is the mainland Of Japan which
also was authoritatively explained fol
the first time today.
Great Britain. according TO com
mittee members. has proposed thai
the agreement not to fortify appl,
only to those islands within the area
of a comparatively small rectanglt
extending from the equator to thirty
degrees north and from 1I0 to $50 de.
grees east. Japan wants the prohibi'
tion against Notifications to cover the
entire Pacific, both north and south
toned in the communique of Decem'
Der 15-Australia, New Zealand. Ha-
waii and the mainlands of Japan
Canada and the United States. This
might include Singapore island as
well as Saigon, the French Pacific
haSdl pdse, especially as Inc lSlant
Of Hongkong. though not Kowloon
facing 1t, Is named in the tentative
agreement as maintaining It's status
quo.
Singapore Strategic Point.
Singapore. which is an island off the
south point of the Malay peninsula,
controls the Malacca strait between
the British Federated Malay States
colony and Sumatra island Of the
the trade between Europe and the
far east and. according to American
official figures. 40 per cent of Japan's
total commerce passes through the
long narrow strait. With Singapore
fortified and a base for British
fleet which can be spared for Asiatic
waters now that the German navy
is serapped and the center Of naval
sea, the control of this commerce
might be entirely in the power of
one nation II occasion required
The plans for developing Singapore
into a fortified naval base have al
ready been the subject of questions
in the house Of commons. On that
occasion the government announced
that the plans had not been oficially
adopted by the British admiralty.
Unless an agreement to the contrary
Is reached in the conference, there is
ed later and there Is an insistant de-
mand from Japan that the status quo
Of fortifications be maintained for
ten years over the entire Pacific In
stead of the limited rectangle pro-
posed by the British.
Ii
the discovery that only a portion of
the Pacific fortifications are to be
limited. The plans Of the British for
the far east are not the only ones
which alarm Japan. The Netherlands
has a prorogram for naval expansion
contemplating 100000. 900 in the next
twelve years, practically all of which
ried out the Dutch feet can also dis
pute control Of the Straits of
Malacca. The program calls for forts
and naval bases built by the home
government at Batavia and Soerabaya
in java, Macassar in the Celebes and
on tne Liza archipelago. The fleet
mostly submarines, is to be, built at
the expense Of the prosperous Dutch
East Indies colonies, and is to be sta
toned there. These are all south OF
the British rectangle.
U. 8. Shows Good VIII.
It is admitted that the United States
by agreeing to maintain the status
quo at Corregidor in the Philippines
proved that 1t had no desire to con-
troll Japan's lane of commerce through
these straits, and by the same action
in regard to Guam, whose precarious
harbor is known in Japan as the
Helgoland of the Pacific, showed Its
willingness to cooperate with Japan
in clearing the Pacific Of forts.
Japan's decision on what Is the
mainland Of Japan-important for
both the four-power trelty and Cor
the agreement on fortifications-was
taken when the American action on
the Philippines and Guam was fresh
and before the immense fertilization
possibilities remaining to other pow
realisation does not change the def
milton as to the mainland, it may
change the agreement on japanese
fortifications whose status quo Is to
be maintained.
AS explained for the first time to.
day by an officer in authority with
the Japanese delegation, the two
ready to agree are:
Denn1t1OM OF MAINLAND.
/. The mainland Of Japan is the
Japan OF 1894, before the conclusion
Of the Sino-Japanese war, which in
cludes the four main islands and the
Loochoos. Bonins and Kuriles. II
does not include Formosa, the Pesca.
dores. Korea or Sakhalin.
2. Japan requires sufficient de.
fenses for the protection Of he,
Korean frontier, but automatically
puts the extensive Notifications OF
Formosa and the Pescadores in the
category of those whose status QUO
is to be maintained and is ready
to agree that the status QUO
shall be maintained as to the FORTH.
cations already started or planned
on Chichi.ji in the Bonins, on
Amami-o-shima and Okinawa-ji
between Yokohama and the Bonins
Hachijo-jima is outside the pro.
posed British rectangle. The Japa.
nese naval authorities say that mons
of these fortiacations were consid.
cred longer necessary after tn.
American agreement on Corregidol
and Guam. The later DEVELOPMENT,
may change their status. The create
part Of the rectangle consists of the
japanese inundated islands, whfcf
cannot be fortified under the league
of nations agreement, SO that, witt
the exception Of Hongkong ant
Macao, Japan and the United State,
are the only nations in the confer.
ence whose present or proposed for.
tifications are restricted.