Evening star., 1941-08-28
VIudivostok Crisis

Out OF contradictory press dis
patches and official statements ap-
pears what may be the beginning OF
a showdown over Japan's opposition
to American aid for Russia shipped
across the Pacific to Vladivostok,
the Soviet Unions great port in the
Far East and the Pacific terminus
OF the Trans-Siberian Railway.
From the moment when the Amer
lean Government announced its in
tention to aid Russia in its fight
against Germany via the Pacific,
Japan took alarm, fearing that much
of this aid was destined, not for the
European battlefront, but to supply
RuSSia's Far Eastern Army. This
alarm was intensified when the first
of a series of American and Russian
freighters sailed from our Pacific
Coast ports, laden with high-test
gasoline, machine tools, and war sup
plies of various kinds. The Japanese
press and official spokesmen alike
warned that those ships might be
held up when they passed necessarily
through waters near Japan and
under Japanese naval control. The
Japanese government admitted that
it would have no legal right for such
action, but intimated that the Sit
uation involved potential dangers
and was exciting the Japanese peo-
pie to a point which might prove
intolerable.
This verbal campaign has now been
supplemented by definite diplomatic
moves. The Japanese Ambassador
in Moscow has formally protested
to the Soviet government, which has
promptly rejected Japanese repre-
sentations and has warned that any
stoppage of supplies en- route for
Vladivostok will be considered an
"inimical" act. And our State De-
partment has served notice on Japan
that the United States will insist
upon the freedom of the seas doctrine
in the Pacific. -.-
The first freighter for Vladiyostok
Is supposed to shaye-left ouraPaci6c
Coast about fortnight ago, and the
ordinary run for such vessels is about
twenty days. That ship should thus,
soon pass through one of the Japa ;
nese-controlled routes, when the first
test will come of what Japan intends
to do. Toxic dispatches are confus-
ing. The press and Army spokes-
men rail and threaten dire things.
But the japanese Foreign Office
adopts a milder tone and it's official
organ, the Japan Times-Advertiser,
prints a long article arguing the
feasibility of a settlement of current
disputes between Japan and the Eng
disappearing powers. All this sug-
gests that the Japanese government
is in quandary and is seeking to gain
time before making, up its mind.
One interesting suggestion thrown
out by Japanese official sources is
that American aid for Russia be sent
via the Middle East instead of to
Vladivostok. These sources stated
that Japan would raise no objection
to that, because such supplies would
obviously be destined for European
Russia and not for the Soviet Far
Eastern Army. The current Anglo
Russian occupation of Iran and the
consequent opening up Of an easy
route to Russia for American and
British supplies lends additional
weight to this argument, first ad-
vanced before the Iranian incident
had begun.
However, it is doubtful whether the
American and British Governments
will make any such bargain with
Toxic. Prime Minister Churchills
caustic criticism Of japanese aggres-
sion and pledge of British aid to
America in case of trouble with
Japan, coupled with Secretary Hull's
fortnight pronouncement that ia
pan must abandon her militaristic
policies as the price of an under
standing with America, combine to
show that neither Washington nor
London is in an "appeasing" mood.
The freighters for Vladivostok pre-