APANESE charges made fu Tokyo that British ships had carried arms for guerillas along the Yangtze were nied in local. 0 British shipping circles yesterday.
No reports of CI se guerillas' having boarded British vessels on the Yangtze were known in these circles where, on the contrary, it was alleged that Japanese troops hat more than once forced British vessels to give them free transportation, In commenting on the statement made by Rear-Admiral Masao Kanazawa on Thursday, a British official, questioned by the "North-China Daily News" remarked that the Rear-Admiral's statement was curiously inaccurate in view of the fact that the Japanese authorities had free access to all reliable sources of information such as the Customs and the River Police.
As will be reoilled, Rear-Admiral Kanazawa stated that 8,000 rounds of ammunition and two guns were found aboard the British steamer Wantung when she came into port on November 29.
"According to the real facts," the official stated, "the s. Wantung did not arrive in Shi i on that day but was actually leaving. Prior to the departure of the steamer, the Chief Officer inspected a roll of bedding that had been brought on board by an unidentified Chinese and found that it contained 890 rounds of rifle ammunition. The officer immediately reported his discovery to the French police, who in turn referred the matter to the Customs River Police. Ao" cordingly, the bedding and its con, tents were handed over to the River Police at 830 a.m. on November 29.
"Rear-Admiral Kanazawa appears to have confused this seizure with the discovery of 5,000 rounds of ammunition and two Mausers which were found on {he pontoon at which the Portuguese steamer Faro was berthed ihe same day."
In his statement, the Japanese Admiral apparently referred to the seizure of arms and ammunitions on board the British steamer in substantiating the Japanese assertion that foreign vessels, operating in the Yangtze estuary open to free navigation, were transporting arms and ammunitions for the guerillas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.