Tokyo, July 5 Evacuation of Sennuha and Bolshoi Islands in the Amur River by Soviet troops is proceeding slowly, the War Office was advised by the Kwantung Army yesterday.
Tents were still visible on Bolshoi ud yesterday afternoon while ore soldiers appear to be still in ennuha. The evacuation began when seven gunboats left at about 930 pin. Friday for upstream to the junction of the Zeya and Amur rivers, Blagoveschensk, That afternoon a Soviet transport began taking intentry and artillery troops aboard. The evacuation of Bolshoi, the reports added, began yesterday morning Soviet claims to the islands constitute "evidence of Moscow's bad faith in the matter," s spokesman for the War Office said to-day. Ownership of the islands, he added, had seen "clearly established both in fact and on the basis of treaties" in favour of Manchoukuo.
With tension on the Amur lessened, the hope that settlement of this incident would bring a turn for the better in Soviet-Japanese relations was expressed to-day by the Foreign Office spokesman. He told foreign correspondents this morning thst the incident wag "quite unexpected" and the Japanese Government remained "mystified" at the "Soviet motives.
He denied Moscow reports that conditions had been agreed upon regarding the stationing of Japanese and Manchoukuo troops on Manchurian soil near the islands—Domei.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.