Evening star., 1940-02-25
Toxic Foreign Office
Whipping Boy for
DIET and Press
Armed Services Exempt
From Criticism, but
Not Jupon's DipIomots
By FRANK H. HEDGES.

TOXIC, Feb. 7 N.A.NA., by
MaiD. .-America and other foreign
powers play prominent part in the
debates OF the Imperial Japanese
Diet, for the foreign once and its
policies constitute the favorite tar
get Of attack in Japan by M. P.'s,
press and public alike. No other
department of the government has
come In for As much criticism dur
ing the current 18th session of
the Diet.
The role played by the United
States and the nations of Europe
and Asia, Of course, is . passive one
but the abuses heaped upon the for
eign ONCE because of its policy to-
ward these powers cannot help
shaping Japanese public opinion to-
ward them and, unfortunately, under
present conditions to shape it ad-
versely.
There are two reasons why Kasu-
migaseki, the popular name given
the foreign office because of its street
address, should bear the brunt of
this vocal and printed disapproval.
First, the foreign policy is more spec
tacular than domestic and, despite
the considerable amount of secret
diplomacy" still practiced in Toxic,
is largely in the open, where it offers
q fair target to all.
The second reason Is less justified.
When an individual or newspaper
wishes to fay the war or navy office,
they dare not do so while the war
with China continues, and so they
attribute the failures of those two
ministers to the foreign office. The
whole of Japan understands this,
but the world at large is too prone
to believe it is actually foreign policy
rather than blunders elsewhere that
lis being arraigned.
Foreign Office Blamed.
One of the most striking instances
Of thus hitting at the foreign office
as a dummy" while really direct
ing the blow elsewhere, is offered by
q recent editorial in the Asahi Shim-
bun of Toxic, one of the greatest
Japanese newspapers. In dealing
with the stoppage Of the Asama
Maru by a British cruiser and the
removal therefrom of 81 Germans at
q point under the shadow of Mount
Full" the Asahi does not mention
the failure Of the Japanese Navy to
convoy Japanese merchantmen. It
places the blame squarely on the
foreign ministry, saying It should
be so far-sighted as to see what is
going on In every nook and corner
of the world" and asking why it
did not place the Asama Maru "un-
der strict surveillance before such
trouble happened"
Even more pointed, because 1t re-
veals an attitude of mind toward the
war in China which prevails in many
quarters in Japan, but which is not
voiced openly, the Asahi continues:
This lack of foresight on the
part of the foreign ministry was also
in evidence when it decided to pro-
secute the current Sino-Japanese
incident as result of the firing by
Chinese troops on Japanese de-
. tachment carrying on military ma
reuvers at Lukuchiao on July Z,
1897. If it had this foresight. it
would have discovered the numerous
creeks and pillboxes in the vast
stretch OF lands that make up
China"
Criticism Of Services Indirect.
In Japan the army and navy are
sacrosanct-but not so the poor for
eign office. To criticize either Of
the armed services brings swift and
severe retribution; hence 1t can be
done only in an indirect manner.
The real shock to the Japanese
nation at the stoppage of the Asama
Maru and the removal Of the 81
Germans was caused by the fact
that these events had taken place
within IS nautical miles of the en-
trance of Toxic Bay and of Japan's
greatest naval port, Yokosuka, which
guards the capital city. How had
it been possible for foreign man
of-war to approach thus close to
the very heart of the empire with
out detection? True, in this case
the British cruiser had no hostile
intentions toward the nation, but
might it not happen again under
war conditions? The foreign office
can hardly be expected to guard the
waters in and around Toxic Bay but
the navy must not be criticized, and
so the foreign Office had to be the
scapegoat.
The same line of reasoning ap-
plies to the war in China. The
Asahi, along with other newspa-
pers and numerous individuals, can
not criticize army strategy and army
planning. That is not permitted
in Japan. Therefore, If it is de-
sired to point out that perhaps it
would have been wiser to prevent
the minor clash at Lukuchiao from
spreading into major hostilities, en-
quilting half of China and continu-
ing into an indefinite period (the
"war" is already nearly three years
old, it is the. foreign office rather
than the war office which must be
assailed.
Weakened Policy Assailed.
Curiously enough, the ministry of
foreign affairs is just as violently
condemned for its "weak-kneed pol
Icy" toward China, toward America,
toward Britain and other nations.
japanese diplomats frequently have
to hear themselves called "the run
ming dogs of the military"
AS to criticism of the foreign Of
flee in its own right, the critics are
on sounder ground, but in this case
the United States or some other ma
4 ton is made the dummy target.
Members of the lower house wax
eloquent in denouncing America be-
cause of its abrpgation Of the treaty
of commerce and navigation, OF
Great Britain because it does not
turn over all its holdings In China
to Japan and get out Of Eastern
Asia" of Soviet Russia for its gen.
eral iniquity.
The consequence is that matters
Of foreign policy which should be