Nothing but the strongest condemnation is possible of the outrageous conduct of a Japanese soldier who, apparently under the impression that the men he was dealing with were British, attacked Dr. Ed. Birt and Mr. Hans Tiefenbacher in the Hungjao area slashing the face of the former and imperilling the sight of one eye. Considerable sympathy wil be felt for the victim of this gross outrage. The Japanese soldier obviously thought he was wreaking his spite on two Englishmen, calling them "English pigs," thereby manifesting his opinion of that much maligned race, and it seems that anyone having a white skin venturing into the western areas runs the same risk as Dr. Birt and Mr. Tiefenbacher. What steps the German authorities take in the matter is something solely for them to decide, but it is to be hoped that such representations will be made as will ensure the due punishment of the soldier who behaved in such a brutal and cowardly manner towards two unarmed men This journal has been continually agitating for ihe complete reopening of the Hungjao area. On a question of principle it will, in all probability, continue to do so, though it will now have rather more sympathy with the Japanese attitude that it is not at present really safe to comply with the request. That on the face of it appears to be the case, but the danger does not seem to lie in anything that the Chinese might do, but because there is really no guarantee that members of the Japanese forces will pay due regard to the dignity of the uniform they wear.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.