Evening star., 1940-09-29


House and the State, War and Navy De-
partments is focused on the Far East.
Japans decision to enter upon formal
alliance with the axis powers and her at
tack on Indo-China have raised an addi-
tional defense problem to keep the bulk
Of the United States fleet in the Pacific
for an indefinite period.
Washington has known for the past
three years that the military who are
ruling the Toxic government worked
hand in hand with Berlin and Rome.
But there was a certain hesitation on
the part of the Emperor in turning the
green light on a definite and formal al
lance with the two European powers.
The reason for the Emperors hesitation
was that the Toxic diplomats had never
received a definite undertaking from
Berlin that all their ambitions Undo
China Singapore and the Dutch East
Indies would be comprised in the gen.
eral settlement plan of the axis for the
revamping Of the old world.
Indo- China Crisis.
A formal undertaking was received in
Toxic during the Won Ribbentrop-Mus-
solini-Ciano discussions of last week in
Rome. AS a token of good will, Berlin
turned the heat on the feeble Petain
government at Vichy in an effort to COM
pei the French to reach an "amicable"
understanding with Toxic. Admiral
Decoux, the Governor General of Indo-
China, has, however, upset the arrange
ment by ordering his troops to resist the
japanese invasion.
This "amicable" understanding pro-
vided that Japanese soldiers be permitted
to enter the territory of 1ndo-Chlna to
push the war against the Chinese from
the south; warships were to be permitted
to Use the Hanoi naval base to support
that expeditionary force and number
of airdromes were to be placed at the
disposal of the japanese airforce to en-
able the japanese airplanes to attack
China from the Indo-Chinese bases.
The agreement was badly received in
1ndo-China. The Governor General did
his utmost to delay the formal signing
of the arrangement. He knew the i'm
portance of Indo-China to the United
States and Great Britain. He was heart
ened in his passive resistance by the OFF,
cial statements from Washington regard
ing the interest of the United States in
the territorial integrity of 1ndo-China.
When Vichy ordered him to yield CEu-
phemism for "surrenderD he accepted
the orders officially, while his troops were
told to oppose force by force
Berlin Is Worried.
Berlin held back the complete approval
of all Japan's expansionist ambitions for
a while 1t did not quite suit the Hitler
government to see Japan eventually con-
trolling all the rubber and oil resources
of the Far East.
But Berlin is IN a predicament at the
present time. The French had put all
their eggs in one basket: The Maglnot
Line. When that line appeared use
less the French resistance collapsed.
The Germans, too, have put all their
eggs in one basket: The blitzkrieg. 1t
had proved 1nfallible until they attacked
England. 1t would be premature to say
that they have failed in the attack on
Britain. But there Is no doubt that
important time has been wasted be-
cause of the unbelievably stubborn Brit
ish resistance and the possibilities OF
a landing On the shores of Britain ap-
pear more remote today than they did
a few weeks ago. Hence the need for
an immediate totalitarian war into which
nations which have been just friendly
watchers will have to be drawn.
The new German war plan, so far
as it is known here, demands an inten-
sified war in the Mediterranean in which
Spain will be required to take with
German and Italian troops and air.
planes Gibraltar. Italy will continue
the best it can the drive against Egypt
and the Suez Canal, while in the Far
East Japan is preparing herself to take
over Hong Kong and probably attack
Singapore and the Dutch East Indies.
The attempted occupation of Indo-China
is only a stepping stone for further
developments to occur shortly in the
Far East. But the right obtained by
the japanese to establish air bases in
that section of Asia is of utmost i'm
portance. japanese planes are now only
600 miles away from the Singapore air
bases and the japanese foreign Office
will have no difficulty in discovering
powerful reasons why Singapore must
become Japanese, like the rest of the
Asiatic mainland and the islands of
the Indian Ocean.
Hulfs Repeated Warnings.
Secretary Hull has warned the Jap
anese indirectly on several occasions
that any invasion of Indo- China will
not find the people Of the United States
impassive spectators. The Japanese have
ignored the warnings Of the American
Secretary Of State because they have