Japanese forces met with severe condemnation in the press here this morning. It was particularly stressed that the occupation was carried out contrary to previous assurances and would be a danger for Indo-China.
"The reasons invoked by the Tokyo Government have no semblance of validity," says "Lo Jour-L'Echo de Paris" "The end of the Sino-Japanese war is not yet in sight and those far removed from the scene of operations can afford to wait."
According to "Lo Journal" the occupation of the island was made with one object in view: to prepare the rupture of the Yunnan railroad one of China's few means of receiving supplies.
Several journals connected the occupation of Hainan with that of Minorca by the Spanish Nationalis "The occupation of Hainan appears clearly, as did the occupation of Minorca, as the faithful execution of the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo—triangle's plans against the democracies to threaten the lines of communication of the French and British empires," said "L'Guvre."
"La République" asserted that Rome and Berlin, dissatisfied at the attempted mediation by France and Great Britain in the Spanish conflict, might have had something to do with the Japanese occupation of Hainan—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.