"The Japanese statement further alleged that the immediate cause of the Sino-Japanese conflict in North China was China's violation of the so-called Ho-Umetsu Agreement by sending troops to the North and that the hostilities at Shanghai were caused by China's disregard of the 1932 Agreement. Therefore, it was contended, Japan's actions in Hopei &nd Shanghai were taken purely in self-defence and did not violate the Nine-Power Treaty. Such specious argument totally ignores the facts.
"The outbreak of the Lukouchiao and Hungjao Aerodrome incidents as as a result of the provocative actions of the Japanese army; the earnest and repeated endeavours made by the Chinese Government to seek a peaceful solution of these incidents; the lack of sincerity on the part of the Japanese in keeping the peace, as manifested by their concentration of huge military, naval and air forces for offensive purposes; the consequent attacks made on Chinese troops who were forced to resist in self-defence; the indiscriminate killing of Chinese non-combatants by the Japanese armed forces and the destruction of Chinese cultural and educational establishments—all these are facts which the Chinese Government has repeatedly declared and which have been attested to by impartial reports. The same facts are dealt with justly and thoroughly in the report of the League of Nations on October 16, leaving little doubt as to who is the aggressor and who is the victim.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.