British objections to Japanese restrictions on navigation of the Yangtze "after six months of silence following the blocking of the viver by the Chinese" were discounted yesterday by a spokesman of {the Japanese Embassy.
The river. he emphasized, was not Closed to Non-Japanese shipping as reported in the London dispatch. The report, he said, was diametrically opposed to the contents el a Japanese note handed to Mra N. Aall the Senior Consul, on Monday by Mr. Suemasa Okamoto, Japanese Consul-General.
The blocking of the Yangtze, by the Chinese, which was started on August 11, formed a violation of the Yangtze regulations of 1899 guaranteeing free passage of the river, "To my knowledge, there has been no protest made to the Chinese Government regarding this interference with shipping," the spokesman said.
Mr. Okamoto's note read in part:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.