TOKYO SEES PEACE BUT SOVIET FORCE IS STILL ATTACKING (8/6/38)

“We are hopeful of a speedy settlement,” said the Foreign Office spokesman after receiving reports on Thursday’s conference between the Japanese Ambassador, Mamoru Shigemitsu, and Maxim Litvinoff, Soviet Commissar of Foreign Affairs.

The Japanese Army reported Soviet guns at half-hour intervals were shelling Japanese positions at Changkufeng near the borders of Manchukuo, Korea and Siberia. An unspecified number of Soviet planes, the Japanese said, crossed the border but were driven back by anti-aircraft fire. The army declared anti-aircraft guns were the only ones fired by the Japanese answering the Russian manoeuvres.

“Japanese troops have refrained from responding to the Soviet bombardment,” said an army communiqué, “in view of the proposals for a cessation of hostilities made by the Japanese Government Thursday to the Moscow Government.”

The Foreign Office revealed today that Japan had proposed to Russia that the border clashes be settled, but that the Soviet’s viewpoint favored arbitration of the entire border question.

The disclosure was made when part of the text was released of the conversation between Mr. Litvinoff and Mr. Shigemitsu. Mr. Shigemitsu was quoted as having informed the Soviet Official:

“The Japanese Government view the present border incident as a local question and it is their policy to exert every effort for a peaceful and rational solution as such. The proposals of today are based on that policy.

“The Japanese Government propose immediate cessation of hostilities on the spot and the opening of diplomatic negotiations for settlement. If the Soviet Government are to accept these proposals, my government are prepared to enter upon discussions of concrete matters.”

Meanwhile, in reporting the continued Soviet artillery fire along the border, Domei News Agency dispatches asserted the Soviet troops “apparently are planning to recapture Changkufeng before a diplomatic settlement is reached.”

The news agency also reported the observation of troops moving in trucks behind the Soviet lines and said that twenty planes had been sent from Khabarovsk to positions nearer the frontier.

“However, there is no indication the Soviet infantry is cooperating with the Soviet artillery,” asserted a Japanese Army communiqué.

It stated Soviet troops had retreated across a marsh adjoining the Changkufeng heights and were erecting barbed-wire defenses.

In Tokyo the conviction grew that the fighting, which started on a large scale July 31 after skirmishes and incidents commencing July 11, would terminate as merely another border incident.

Mr. Litvinoff referred to Japanese troops occupying the disputed Changkufeng heights, on the Siberian-Manchukuoan frontier, merely as “such remnants of their troops as might still remain on Soviet territory.” It was considered the Japanese quietly could withdraw without losing face.

Foreign observers believed, however, that any delay in Japanese action would raise the threat of vigorous Soviet military action attempting to oust the Japanese from Changkufeng.

Readers could deduce from the published communiqué of the Litvinoff-Shigemitsu meeting that Japanese soldiers still were occupying part of the border region, or Mr. Litvinoff would not have demanded troop withdrawals.

It will be exceedingly difficult for the Japanese to recognize the 1886 treaty as the basis for determining the boundary. Once Japan gives such recognition of the treaty map as the determining factor in the Changkufeng region, foreign observers pointed out, she would give Russia an advantage in future disputes over the frontier.

The statement was made as Soviet shells landed in Korean territory. The Japanese said they had replied with a total of 2,500 shells.

Japanese military authorities reported today their artillerymen had broken up infantry formations behind the Soviet Russian line. They said they replied at 10 A. M. with 100 rounds to a heavy Russian attack which was continuous from 4 A. M. From noon onward, Soviet gunners shelled Korean villages in a desultory fashion. Two shells landed within a half mile of the Tumen-Rashin Railway.

Soviet scouting planes appeared a few times over Changkufeng but each time darted into the cover of low-flying clouds before Japanese anti-aircraft batteries went into action.

The Japanese said the Russian forces were arrayed along a four-mile front. The Japanese expressed belief the Russians intended to attempt the envelopment of Changkufeng. Heavy mists descending along the coast of Possiet Bay were expected to delay the attempt.

Likening his position to that of a chained elephant, a high officer commanding Japanese forces in Northern Korea told this writer:

“If we were permitted, I am firmly convinced we would be able to isolate the enemy on this front and prevent a single Soviet soldier from reaching the Red base at Novokievsk.

“With minor exceptions, when the Japanese were forced to reply to the unusually outrageous Soviet incursions, shelling and air raids, the Japanese Army has persistently remained quiet, not aggravating the situation in this sector.

“What remains a dangerous factor, in my mind, is the question of how long young Japanese officers and the men under them can endure the daily shelling of Korean and Manchukuoan territory and sporadic air raids. They might at any time push forward.

Chinese guerrillas are becoming more active and the Japanese are virtually helpless because of an insufficiency of troops and because of the boglike condition of the terrain as a result of recent heavy rains. Armored cars and trucks, which hitherto have been effectively used by small bodies of Japanese against superior numbers of irregulars, have now been immobilized.

Travelers arriving from Manchukuo report that troop trains have been leaving Mukden northward at the rate of six a day for the last few days, and there is reason to believe that many of these troops are from Shantung and Shasi, where hostilities are at a standstill.

Moreover, Japanese troops are pouring into Mongolia through Kalgan. For months Inner Mongolia had been denuded of Japanese troops because of the demands of the North China campaign, but recently there has been a constant stream of trucks carrying troops from Kalgan toward Udte, on the border of Inner and Outer Mongolia. From Udte they are spreading northeastward along the frontier.

A trustworthy report says that a detachment of Chinese Communist troops has penetrated into Jehol from Hopeh through the Great Wall and is causing the Japanese authorities some anxiety.

A foreign motorist who tried to reach Tientsin by road was turned back ten miles south of Tungchow when he ran into the engagement and saw the field guns and tanks in action against the guerrilla force. Tungchow is about twelve miles east of Peiping.

The number of these roving warriors in Hopeh Province has been increased by about 1,500 Japanese-trained Chinese soldiers. The Japanese Army here spent a few months training 1,500 Chinese for special service against the guerrillas. At the end of July the 1,500 were sent against their countrymen in the western hills, fifteen miles from Peiping. It has been confirmed that during the first engagement they shot several of their officers and deserted to the other side. Now they are taking part in the operations against Japanese garrisons in the small towns surrounding Peiping.

In addition to Hsiaochihkow, Lungping and Kunglung, the important city of Wusueh is now reported within the flooded zone, with some streets submerged. Flood waters are said to cover the highway west of Hwangmei in many places. Hwangmei, twenty-five miles northeast of Kiukiang, dominates a road to Hankow.

Chinese military officers believe that the Japanese will have the greatest difficulty in making headway across the flooded area toward Hankow. Most of the inhabitants are said to have fled from flooded cities and villages. Reports reaching here make no mention of civilian victims of the floods, but is appears evident hat widespread suffering is being caused among the people.

Chinese intelligence reports from Nanchang declare that as a result of recent Japanese troop transfers the invaders now have six divisions along the front on the north bank of the Yangtze and only two along the south bank.

Official reports declare that the Chinese have repulsed Japanese assaults on Chinese positions south of Kiukiang, with the Japanese suffering casualties exceeding 1,000 in fighting around Shaho on Thursday. Heavy fighting is also reported between Tsienshan and Taihu, where the Chinese are said to be repulsing repeated attacks toward Hsiaochihyih.

The Japanese aviators were reported to have blasted many Chinese troop concentrations in the railway zone. At Nanchang the bombers reportedly concentrated their attack on the railway station and munitions warehouses, setting the latter afire.

Meanwhile, the Japanese advance toward Hankow seems to have slowed to a yardage basis. Heretofore the invaders have been gaining an average of a mile and a quarter daily in their drive up the Yangtze River.

Japanese warships concentrated their efforts today on trying to sweep mines from the river above Kiukiang, Yangtze port 135 miles below Hankow. They also shelled Chinese defenses on the Yangtze’s south bank, above Kiukiang. The bombardments were preludes to Japanese infantry attacks, which, it was reported, were repulsed at the foot of Shamao Mountain.

Other reports reveal that Japan is making heavy inroads into Chinese trade, gaining an ever-larger percentage of that business at the expense of the Western countries.

The movements of bullion also indicated a partial picture of Chinese expenditures in the Sino-Japanese War, for among $5,237,522 worth of silver received in the United States in the week ended July 29 was $4,300,000 in foreign coins shipped from England but believed to have originated in China.

The gold and silver imports constituted almost a net gain for the Unites States for in that week this country exported only $3,525 worth of gold and $38,858 in silver.

The Commerce Department’s trade figures, issued for June, showed that Japan shipped into China in that month 36 per cent of the imports received by China from all sources, compared with a Japanese total of only 21 per cent in June, 1937. This trade, as surveyed by the American commercial attaché at Shanghai, did not include Japanese exports to Manchukuo.

The greater part of the Japanese gain apparently was made at the expense of Great Britain, for the United States held 15 per cent of it in June, 1938, compared with 18 per cent in June, 1937, while the British percentage of Chinese trade declined from 18 percent in June, 1936, when it equaled that held by the United States, to 6.7 per cent in June this year.

Among others supplying Chinese requirements, Germany in June, 1938, controlled 8 per cent of that trade, thereby exceeding the British business.

At the same time, Japan was China’s best customer, if the percentage of shipments indicate movements of merchandise for which Japan paid, for China shipped 22.5 per cent of her exports in June to Japan. This compared with 8.8 per cent to the United States and 7 per cent each to Great Britain and Germany.

Symptomatic of trade conditions prevailing in China, the commerce report said “statistics show that the Japanese Empire supplied approximately 80 per cent of total imports into the North China area curing June and absorbed about 70 per cent of North China’s exports for the month.”

Premier and Finance Minister H. H. Kung flew to Chungking today, marking the shift of the offices of the head of the government to the new capital. Other Ministers who have preceded Dr. Kung are Wang Chung-hui, Foreign Affairs; Ho Chien, Interior, and Ong wen-hao, Economies. Wang Ching-wei, chairman of the People’s Political Council, has also gone to Chungking, along with the transfer there of most of the Kuomintang party’s offices.

Minister of Education Chen Li-fu, Minister of Communications Chang Kia-ngau and Minister of War Ho Ying-chin are the only members of the Cabinet still in Hankow.

Following United States Ambassador Nelson T. Johnson, the dean of the diplomatic corps, most of the heads of other foreign diplomatic missions who have been in Hankow will leave for Chungking tomorrow morning on the French steamer Fookuen. The French, Italian, Belgian and Netherlands Charges d’Affaires will be aboard the Fookuen.

The United States gunboats Luzon and Tutuila, carrying Ambassador Johnson and his staff, arrived at Ichang this morning and expect to reach Chungking early next week.

The committee stressed that unless fulfillment of these conditions was guaranteed it would be difficult for the League to assume responsibility.

The letter was received from the British embassy by the State Department, which today sent it to the Navy Department.

"The Japanese Army reported Soviet guns at half-hour intervals were shelling Japanese positions at Changkufeng near the borders of Manchukuo, Korea and Siberia. An unspecified number of Soviet planes, the Japanese said, crossed the border but were driven back by anti-aircraft fire. The army declared anti-aircraft guns were the only ones fired by the Japanese answering the Russian manoeuvres."

From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html

Russia, China flex muscles in joint war games
Reuters: Aug 17, 2007

CHEBARKUL, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and China staged their biggest joint exercises on Friday but denied this show of military prowess could lead to the formation of a counterweight to NATO.

"Today's exercises are another step towards strengthening the relations between our countries, a step towards strengthening international peace and security, and first and foremost, the security of our peoples," Putin said.

Fighter jets swooped overhead, commandos jumped from helicopters on to rooftops and the boom of artillery shells shook the firing range in Russia's Ural mountains as two of the largest armies in the world were put through their paces.

The exercises take place against a backdrop of mounting rivalry between the West, and Russia and China for influence over Central Asia, a strategic region that has huge oil, gas and mineral resources.

Russia's growing assertiveness is also causing jitters in the West. Putin announced at the firing range that Russia was resuming Soviet-era sorties by its strategic bomber aircraft near NATO airspace.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29030120070817?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

U.S. Navy Intercepts Russian Bombers Flying Near Ships
Monday, February 11, 2008
WASHINGTON (Associated Press) U.S. fighter planes intercepted two Russian bombers flying unusually close to an American aircraft carrier in the western Pacific during the weekend, The Associated Press has learned.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,330362,00.html

"the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century" -Russian leader Vladimir Putin on the collapse of the Soviet Union...
"World democratic opinion has yet to realize the alarming implications of President Vladimir Putin's State of the Union speech on April 25, 2005, in which he said that the collapse of the Soviet Union represented the 'greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.'
http://www.hooverdigest.org/053/beichman.html

New Pentagon Report: China's Growing Military Space Power
By Leonard David
Special Correspondent, SPACE.com
March 6, 2008

GOLDEN, Colorado — A just-released Pentagon report spotlights a growing U.S. military concern that China is developing a multi- dimensional program to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by its potential adversaries during times of crisis or conflict.

Furthermore, last year's successful test by China of a direct-ascent, anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon to destroy its own defunct weather satellite, the report adds, underscores that country's expansion from the land, air, and sea dimensions of the traditional battlefield into the space and cyber-space domains.

Although China's commercial space program has utility for non- military research, that capability demonstrates space launch and control know-how that have direct military application. Even the Chang'e 1 — the Chinese lunar probe now circling the Moon — is flagged in the report as showcasing China's ability "to conduct complicated space maneuvers — a capability which has broad implications for military counterspace operations."

To read the entire publication [29.67MB/pdf], go to (U.S. Dept of Defense) :
http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/pdfs/China_Military_Report_08.pdf _____________________________________________________________

Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs

February 29, 2008 :: News
MissileThreat.com

A video has surfaced of Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama talking on his plans for strategic issues such as nuclear weapons and missile defense.

The full text from the video, as released, reads as follows:

Thanks so much for the Caucus4Priorities, for the great work you've been doing. As president, I will end misguided defense policies and stand with Caucus4Priorities in fighting special interests in Washington.

First, I'll stop spending $9 billion a month in Iraq. I'm the only major candidate who opposed this war from the beginning. And as president I will end it.[i.e. not win it]

Second, I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending.

I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems.

I will not weaponize space.

I will slow our development of future combat systems.

And I will institute an independent "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending.

Third, I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material; and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert, and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.

You know where I stand. I've fought for open, ethical and accountable government my entire public life. I don't switch positions or make promises that can't be kept. I don't posture on defense policy and I don't take money from federal lobbyists for powerful defense contractors. As president, my sole priority for defense spending will be protecting the American people. Thanks so much.

Article: Obama Pledges Cuts in Missile Defense, Space, and Nuclear Weapons Programs:
http://missilethreat.com/archives/id.7086/detail.asp

"MissileThreat.com is a project of The Claremont Institute devoted to understanding and promoting the requirements for the strategic defense of the United States."

_____________________________________________________________

Obama Promises to Dismantle Our Armed Forces
by Robert Maginnis
Posted 04/10/2008 ET

(Mr. Maginnis is a retired Army lieutenant colonel, a national security and foreign affairs analyst for radio and television and a senior strategist with the U.S. Army)

YouTube has an undated 52-second clip of Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barrack Obama outlining his plans for America’s national defense. Obama’s presentation demonstrates either total naivete about important national security programs or he is just pandering for votes among the extreme left.
[Maginnis does an excellent must-read analysis of Obama's suicidal defense proposals-ETL]
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=25942

Note: Here is the *original* youtube video from the Obama camp:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o84PE871BE

Human Events refers to this poor quality copy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl32Y7wDVDs

From "45 Communist Goals":
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963:

1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament [by] the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

'Goals' 4-45 can be found here or at many other sites through a web search for "45 goals":
http://www.uhuh.com/nwo/communism/comgoals.htm

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