On August 2, a Japanese aide-memoirs was sent to the French Am. bassador in Tokyó in which the request to grant Japanese troops the right to pass through Tongking was reiterated and a further request made for the use of airfields in Indo-
China.
Although this was not an ultimatum. a categorical refusal from the French Government would have created a dangerous situation for the sover-eighty of Indo-China.
For this reason, the Foreign Minister explained, the French Government agreed to discuss the question on condition that the talks would e place in a calm atmosphere, and requested Japan to specify that she had no territorial designs on Indo-China. Japan replied stating that she wished to find a basis for a satisfactory agreement. vouch troops had been forced te withdraw from outposts at Dongdang which was first attacked by the Japanese on Sunday night.
Hanoi experienced its first air alarm yesterday when Japanese planes en route to Langson, appar ently operating from an aircraft-carrier, crossed the Indo-China coast. Many people here went into dug outs, but the majority of Hanoi resi nts appeared to regard the raid warni [as a curiosity.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.