"Then why are these reports not denied?" queried a correspondent, whereupon he was told that the protest had been lodged yesterday. Asked whether it was true that when Third Power nationals accompanied Britishers, they were permitted to proceed whilst the Britishers were subjected to the search, the spokesman replied in the affirmative.
"All persons are searched alike," the spokesman added in referring to British men and women, "Yes, but it depends on the way which, this is done"
That is just the question at issue, the spokesman said and facts con cerning the searches have been distorted and twisted in accounts received from British and other foreign eye-witnesses.
As an example, the military spokesman mentioned the case of a Canadian subject who had been searched and whose nationality was subsequently given as American in news dispatches.
"I have never seen this news-dispatch and it was not released here because it wouldn't work in China anyway," the spokesman replied.
Asked why only British' subjects were being searched, the spokesman said in view of the general British attitude in Tientsin it was found that they were contrary-wise to Japanese interests,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.