General Iwane Matsui who is in command of the Japanese forces in the Shanghai area has issued an announcement to which it is presumed. that special importance has to be attached. During the last few weeks the course of the fighting round Shanghai has been closely followed and the Japanese have met with considerable resistance to the valour of which the: spokesmen have borne testimony, It may gathered from General Matsui's statement that reinforcements of the invaders have been landed with the view of pressing a strong offensive. It is quite impossible to gauge lines on which the campaign will develop. Both sides have displayed complete confidence in their ability to maintain the plans of their respective commanders. It does not necessarily follow that the Chinese withdrawals have betokened a failure to carry out the intentions of the High Command for China is admittedly on the defensive. The superior armament of the Japanese forces has not yet fully asserted itself. If General Matsui's announcement portends a new phase, it is possible that on the Chinese side adjustments to the exigencies of such a development will be duly made,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.