Evening star., 1943-10-10
Portugal and japan

current reports OF diplomatic ten
sion between Portugal and Japan are
significant as indications of a shift in
what may be called the psychology
1cal "lmponderables" in the Far East.
Should little Portugal now venture to
stand up automatically to japanese
provocationS, this will be a clear in
dlcatlon that its government envis-
ages an eventual Allied victory over
Japan and wishes at least to keep
the record straight for the ultimate
peace settlement when the swollen
empire of predatory Nippon has been
shattered.
Portugal has two colonial posses
slons In the Far East. The first Of
these IS the eastern half of the island
Of Timor. the last remnant of the
colonial empire it once held in what
Is now known as the Dutch Indies.
The second vestige of former glory
is Macao, small island at the mouth
OF the estuary up which lies China's
southern metropolis of Canton. Por-
tugal has held Macao ever since 1857,
though its commercial Importance
has long since been eclipsed by Hong
Kong, the British colony, now in
japanese hands, which arose on an
island across the bay from Macao.
Recent japanese entertainments on
the old Portuguese settlement seem
to have been the immediate occasion
for the acrid exchanges between
Lisbon and Toxic.
This assertion of legal rights con-
trasts markedly with Lisbon's atti-
tude toward Japanese aggressions on
Tlmor in the months before Pea~l
HarbOr, when Toxic was running
rampant throughout the Far East.
In that sinister period the japanese
government first eXacted permis-
sion for a commercial airfield on
Timor, under diplomatic pressure,
and then seized the colony as part
OF its conquest of the Dutch Indies.
Tlmor'S strategic Importance arises
from its nearneSs to Northern Aus
tralla, 1t being only 400 miles from
Port Darwin. 1t has, in fact, served
as the chief base for air raids on
Australia, and at one time heavy
japanese land forces seem to have
been assembled there for a projected
invasion of the Australian continent.
To all this Portugal contented itself
with formal protests, with no hint of
breaking diplomatic relations.
At the moment there was nothing
else Lisbon could venture to do. be-
cause the Berlin-Rome end of the
Axis was backing Toxic, and the
Franco regime in Spain had a pro-
Axis policy. Portugal thus had to
sit tight and hope that, by self
effacing neutrality, it might preserve
itself and the bulk of it's extensive,
though militarily defenseless, colo
NAL empire, mostly in Africa. How
ever, its formal protests kept the
record straight until better days.
Now, the Allied conquest of North
Africa and mastery of the Mediter-
ranean, together with Frances
changed attitude, have removed the
Immediate Axis threat to the home
land and the African colonies. So
stronger stand against Japan be-
comes not merely possible, but dip
lomatically desirable.
The logic of the situation does not
indicate that, at this stage, Lisbon
will 60 much further Portugal as
neutral has its uses for both sides in
the Far East. It's settlements in
India are today the points of contact
for exchanges of Allied and japanese
civilian evacuees, and for other dip
lomatlc purposes. Thus, neither
Japan nor the Allies would gain
much by Portugal's change from a
neutral to a belligerent status. 1t is
Lisbon itself which has taken a dip
lomatic stand calculated to maintain
its record and establish claims to
consideration in the settlement
which will follow an Allied victory
This appears to be the meaning of
what Is happenings between Lisbon
and Toxic at the present time.