Evening star., 1939-05-28
Japan Seen Timing
Latest Chinese Move
With Europe Tense
Low Of Necessity Excuse
For HoItine French and =.
British Vessels
BY JOSEPH H. BAIRD.


An effort to alarm and divert the
attention of the Western democracies
from their "stop-H Hitler" program in
Europe was seen by astute official
observers here yesterday in Japan's
recent aggressive moves against for
eign interests in China.
Japan's interference with British
and French shipping and its demand
for more power in the international
settlements at Shanghai and Ku-
langsu were not dictated entirely by
a desire to help the axis powers, it
was pointed out. These moves fit in,
OF course, with Japan's long-term
plan of ejecting foreign interests
from China. But Tokio's timing was
adapted to developments in Europe
in way designed to be helpful to
Germany and Italy, as well as itself.
Thus far, the State Department
has received no official statement
from Japan regarding the virtual
policy of blockade announced by a
japanese naval spokesman in
Shanghai. This officer, invoking the
'law of necessity" said japanese
vessels claimed the right to stop any
foreign ship which the Japanese
thought might be carrying military
supplies to China. His post facto
warning came after Japanese ships
already had halted the French liner
Aramis and the British ship Ran
pura.
No Official Warning.
American officials are convinced
the Japanese will not 60 so far as
to deliver this warning through dip
lomatic channels. IT that were done,
1t would raise concrete question
to which, presumably, the United
States, Great Britain and France
would have to reply by saying they
did or did not recognize Japans
right to lay down a blockade in a
war which, odd enough, has no ON
cial status as war
If the Western powers refused to
recognize Japan's right of blockade
as they undoubtedly would-and
Toxic still sought to enforce 1t, an
extremely dangerous situation would
result. In that case foreign nations
would be faced with the alternative
OF submitting to blockade which
had no basis in international law or
else breaking through it by force.
1t was noted that no effort was
made by the Japanese to halt the
President Coolidge, which arrived at
Hongkong Friday after passing
through the zone of japanese naval
operations.
The United States and Great
Britain, it is understood, now are
consulting as to their policy II un-
expectedly the government in Toxic
should give official sanction to the
policy of search laid down by the
naval spokesman in Shanghai.
Previous Timing Clever.
japanese diplomats, it was noted
here, have been very adept at timing
their moves to coincide with crises
involving the Western powers in
other parts of the world.
The famous "21 demands" on
China were made when the powers
OF EurOpe-Were involved IN the Great
War and only America was in
position to offer effective diplomatic
resistance.
Tokio's advance into Manchuria
IN 1881 came at time when the
United States. Great Britain and
France-the Western powers with
the greatest commercial interests
there-were deep in the mire of an
unprecedented economic and finan-
cial depression.
The outbreak of the Spanish civil
war, which divided Europe into two
armed camps, was seized on by
Japan as an opportune moment for
its present campaign in China, which
began with the invasion of the Pei
ping district in the summer of 1897.
Now, when relations between
Great Britain and Germany are
more precarious than they have been
since Munich, the Japanese are
launching another campaign to ex-
pand their power in the Chinese
area.