Evening star., 1941-07-24
What Is japan Up To?

WHut - JupuII w ~:
After the series of prolonged con-
ferences called in Toxic upon the
outbreak of the Russo German war,
the japanese government announced
that vital decisions on foreign policy
had been made but would be kept
secret AS an official spokesman put
it, they would be revealed by deeds
rather than words.
Since that cryptic statement full
month has passed, and Japan has
not yet shown her hand But it Is
virtually certain that fresh aggres-
Sions are in the making The new
Konoye cabinet is as imperialiStic as
its predecessor. The dropping of
YoSuke MatSuoka from the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs seemed at first to
be moderating gesture, yet the
motive appears to have been a freer
hand rather than a more peaceful
trend.
Every news item from the Far East
spells the imminence of aggressive
action. The fact that the President
and the Secretary of the Navy have
warned of an impending Oriental
crisis shows that confidential official
information is to the same effect
London is equally alarmist. The Far
Eastern horizon is indeed black with
storm clouds.
The immediate storm center
seems to be French Indo-China.
Already intrenched in the northern
part of that extensive French colony,
Japan evidently is determined to
get its grip upon the southern prov
inces as well, especially the splendid
naval base at Camranh bay, which
would put the Japanese within Strik-
ing distance of both the Netherlands
Indies and the key British strong
hold of Singapore. From all indica-
tions, the Nazi- dominated Vichy
government is prepared to yield to
Japanese demands on Indo-C China.
To what extent this rich French
colony will be surrendered to Japan
remains to be seen, but 1t seems
evident that the men of Vichy are
disposed to obey whatever inStruc-
tions they receive from their Nazi
overlords
Thailand, the nominally indie
pendent buffer state covering both
Singapore and British Burma, is
likewise involved in Japan's south
ward advance. Japanese influence
in Thailand is strong, and Toxic may
deem the moment ripe for a double
stroke in this region which would
further increase the strategic threat
to British and Dutch possessions.
The British government has just
announced warningly that it could
not ignore changes in Thailands
status which might prejudice British
interests.
Japans aggressive intentions, how
ever, may not be confined to south
eastern Asia. Some qualified OBJ
servers see in the current military
and naval concentrations toward
Indo-China and Thailand either a
diplomatic smoke screen or at smost
merely one phase of a more ambi-
tiouS program. There seems to be
little doubt that large scale troop
movements toward the Russian
border are under way. Also, fresh
japanese activity in central China
has appeared. This, in turn, is COM
plicated by fresh outbreaks of hos
tility between the Chinese Commu-
niStS and the nationalist government
of Chang Kai-Shek. Here, indeed,
is mystery, since the reports are in
part elf-contradictory and do not
make a logical pattern.
The japanese puzzle thus con-
tinues to battle analysis and render
predictions most uncertain. How
ever, climax evidently is near at
hand. AS the Toxic spokesman re-
marked last month, Japanese deeds
will soon give revealing clue.