Tokyo, Oct. 2.
"li armed Chinese junks open fire on Japanese naval units, the latter will be obliged to resort to self-defence measures," a spokesman of the Navy Ministry declared last night.
"Although much exaggerated news has been distributed on attacks on junks by Japanese naval units, there are junks of various descriptions," he asserted. "Some of these so-called junks," he explained, "exceed 500 tons and are armed with machine-
Suns and light guns of five and ten centimetre calibre though their armament is of old type."
Regarding their operation, the spokesman pointed out that they have bases in Hunghai Bay and Kit-chieh Bay in Kwangtung Province and harass merchant ships operating in the vicinity.
"Naval aircraft of a certain Power," he added, "have already/attempted to exterminate these outlaws."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.