Mukden, July 18. Authoritative quarters state that the situation on the northeastern frontier remains tense, following the refusal of the Soviet troops to evacuate the positions which they are said to have Occupied at Changkufeng.
Japanese reports indicate that the Soviet is reinforcing the troops alleged to be in occupation of the disputed territory by seaborne troops from Possiet Bay.
The Manchoukuo authorities are said to view the situation with the gravest concern, declaring that unless the evacuation demand is met, prompt action will be taken.—Reuter.
Incident May Not Become Serious Tokyo, July 18.
The border incident itself, a spokesman declared, was quite clear, and therefore it would not become serious "if only the Soviet Government would change its attitude so as to deal with the affair honestly."
Recalling the history of the de-mar cation of the frontier between China and Russia, the spokesman observed that the border first started from a point 20 miles upstream from the mouth of the Tumen River as a result of the Sino-Russian Agreement of 1861.
The Russian side, he went on, was later removed to a point 45 miles upstream from the mouth of the Tumen River.
As a result of protracted negotiations, both Russia and China agreed to the present starting-point of the frontier line, which, the spokesman said, lies 30 miles upstream from the mouth of the river.
Both China and Korea were powerless before, "Russian aggression," the spokesman went on.
The Sino-Russian Border Agreement, as well as the official- map issued by Russia in 1911, showed that the border-line runs east of Changchi (Hazang Lake) and Changkufeng Hill which was now in question, Japan and Manchoukuo, however, conceded that the borderline ran west of Hazang Lake, and east of Changkufeng, against which M. Stomoniakov, Soviet Assistant Foreign Commissar, held that the frontier line ran west of Changkufeng, though he did not mention how far westward it ran.
The spokesman went on to say that a road, regarded as the border-line for the past 50 years, now ran east of Changkufeng, and pointed out that Korean villagers living at the base of Changkufong Hill had held semiannual festivals in March and September at the top of the hill, but had never been molested by the Russian or Soviet authorities, The border guards, the spokesman declared, had become "unusually nervous" since the flight of General Lushkov, and probably some new commander of the Border Guards, possibly without due knowledge of the border geography, ordered the Occupation of Changkufeng Hill—Reuter.
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