Aug. 9.
Coming at a juncture such as this the bombing and destruction of the two British ships, the s. Klawo and the s. Hsinchangwo, belonging to Messrs, Jardine, Matheson & Ca., and the Indo-China Steam Navigation Ca. respectively, at Ichang, cannot but cause the most unfavourable impression, To that damage must be added that done to the AP.C. installation and waterfront property owned by Mackenzie & Ca,, all, be it noted, British concerns. If the conclusion drawn is to the effect that these bombings were deliberate the Japanese have only themselves to blame, The movements of British shipping on the Yangtze are notified to the Japanese naval authorities daily, the ships were adequately marked, and there is nothing whatever to suggest that the Japanese authorities were not fully aware of the positions of the two ships just as certainly as they must have been informed as to the whereabouts of the two British properties on Jand. Japanese aeroplanes bent on Chungking raids must have passed continually over the areas where this outrage took place, and provided that their pilots were of average intelligence, and it is.to be assumed that they are, they should have been perfectly aware of what they were doing, and the targets at
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.