Tokyo, July 20.
Whether the incident on the Soviet-Manchoukuo border becomes serious or not depends entirely upon the attitude of the Soviet Union, according to a statement made today by a spokesman for the Foreign Office.
Replying to a question bya foreign correspondent, the spokesman said that Japan was quite ready to respond to any reaction on the part of the Soviet Government.
The spokesman revealed that Gen-eneral Kayushige Ugaki, Foreign Minister, last night instructed Mr. Mamoru Shigemitsu, Japanese Ambassador in Moscow, to repeat the protests made to the Soviet Government regarding the border incident, and also with regard to the alleged killing of a Japanese gendarme by the Soviet troops who are said to have seized Changkaofeng Hill.
Japan, the spokesman went on, will consider the organization of joint machinery for the settlement of border disputes if this is agreed upon by the Soviet Union.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.