The statement by the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mr. Koki Hirota, in the Lower House of the Diet on Thursday that Japan desired to maintain "traditional friendly relations" with Great Britain, will, it is hoped find sympathetic response in the minds of his listeners, Prior to the outbreak of these present hostilities there was every possibility of the relations between the two countries being placed on a better basis than they had been for years. The China Incident prevented further conversations on the subject, and the two countries now find themselves with opinions widely at variance with each other's: It would be a major disaster if matters could not be rectified, and it is hoped that both countries will continue to follow a policy most conducive to the peace of this part of the world, Mr. Hirota said that:—
"There have been various discussions in certain quarters in Japan regarding British movements, but I cannot see a single case in which Britain has acted deliberately against the interests of Japan. If any such case should occur, I think it is the duty of diplomats to persuade Britain to reconsider."
So authoritative a statement, so clearly demonstrating the bona fides of Britain's behaviour in the Far East, it is hoped, will reach all those in Japan who for some considerable time past have been persuaded that Great Britain is the nigger in the Asiatic woodpile, She is, and has been nothing of the sort. That she has insisted upon full respect for her interests in China cannot be questioned, but what country would demand anything less? Insistence upon such rights cannot at any time be described as unfriendly. That Great Britain disapproves of the policy which Japan is following in China is only too apparent, but that disapproval, for many reasons, has not been translated into actual enmity for Japan. It is as well that—these things should be understood, not only by Japanese legislators, but by the ordinary man in the street, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Hirota's remarks reach him.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.