Some observers profess to see in the Far East at the moment two different propaganda wars, one between Japan and China, and the other an attack upon Great Britain in Japanese-controlled areas and quite obviously inspired by the invaders. The recent reports of the removal of the alleged remains of Genghis Khan are thought by some people to have been launched on the Chinese public as a subtle means of reminding them of the great leader and inspiring them to continue their resistance against invasion. The idea may seem somewhat far fetched but there is reason to think that there is some ground for the belief. On the other hand it is believed that the fantastic tales of wonderful air successes against the Mongols, which the Japanese have claimed on two occasions, amount to something in the nature of a reply to the Chinese on the one hand, and on the other a method of satisfying public opinion in Japan which it is believed is not altogether satisfied with the present state of affairs in China. That these reports are accepted with some scepticism in foreign circles is inevitable, and there will be a general disposition to accept the Moscow denial that there ever was any such engagement as alleged, and that the claim put forward by the Japanese of having encountered 150 Soviet aeroplanes with but eighteen of their own, and to have shot down 49 hostile craft, with but a loss of five of their own machines is probably correctly viewed by Russian commentators as "simply absurd." On the other hand, the Japanese report is an interesting and capable piece of dramatic writing, but certainly not beyond the scope of a highly-imaginative writer to achieve. As propaganda, however, it is not particularly good, for even if there were no denial from Moscow the application of the ordinary test of probability would in itself serve to cast doubts upon the story. The only possible explanation of the alleged débâcle, if it were true, would be that there were so many Soviet aeroplanes in the air, that they got in each others' way when seeking to deal with the Japanese.
The propaganda campaign now being carried on against the British in North China has about it less amusing aspects. In Japanese-controlled areas the masses are being fanned into a perfect fury of anti-British sentiment, every modern method of stirring up the inherent xenophobia of the Chinese being availed of throughout those areas, probably with the idea of precipitating some sort of incident in which the British and the Chinese will become involved for the purpose of stirring up an even greater hatred. The revival of the Canton Incident of 1925, on its anniversary last Friday in many towns and cities in North China is just an example of what is going on, and the fact that demonstrations took place in so many cities over a matter which the Chinese have shown a willing disposition to forget in the face of the greater evils which have been inflicted upon them. It does not matter how much the Japanese army officials may seek to disclaim responsibility, the fact remains that this agitation is being fostered in areas over which they have full military control, and that, if they wished, they could easily stop them. The fact that they do not can lead to but one conclusion, and that is that not only is this agitation very welcome to them, but that they are its originators and inspirers. It is not be expected that the British will endeavour to counter the propaganda which prevails upon the unthinking masses in North China, or that they will become unduly concerned over the matter. They have had to experience similar movements in the past, and have met them with an equanimity which has not always been displayed when other nations have been subjected to the same treatment, and there is every reason to believe that a calm dignified attitude towards present demonstrations will in the long run prove more effective than the adoption of a more positive policy which in the circumstances would be exceptionally difficult to execute. It may confidently be expected that this campaign of vilification of the British will be extended, and the time may be not so far ahead when in the whole of the areas under Japanese domination similar movements will be witnessed.
They will be purely artificial demonstrations of a completely fictitious indignation, for there is no real case which can be brought against the British, and has not been for at least a dozen years. It is not the British who during the past two years have killed a million Chinese and driven 60,000,000 from their homes; it is not the British who have consistently bombed defenceless cities, nor is it the British who in the cause of undying affection have visited upon the Chinese a catastrophe which by now far exceeds anything which the Taipings ever did. It is not the British who are endeavouring to deprive the Chinese of their territorial integrity under specious pretexts of establishing local governments which have no authority save that vested in their Japanese advisers, nor is it the British who are seeking to establish a military, political and economic hegemony over the Chinese, in which they will be exploited as only the helot can be exploited. When the staggering total of guilt which the Japanese army has accumulated comes to be realized by the inarticulate Chinese masses, as realized it most certainly will be one day, this anti-British propaganda which is being so enfhusiastically fostered will recoil upon the heads of it originators. They are forging a dangerous weapon which may one day be turned upon themselves, and taking the long view of what is happening the Japanese army is embarked upon a policy the results of which may be slow in coming but may prove very deadly when they do. It is idle to refer to the monotonously-repeated assurances concerning the tender solicitude for the rights and interests of third party neutrals which the Tokyo Government has given. It may be conceded that they have been given in all honesty, but there is a clear cut demarcation between what" the Tokyo Government would probably like to do, and what the Army in China will permit it to do. It is possible to believe, as it is claimed, that there are sections of public opinion in Japan which views with dismay what is going on in China. They disapprove of it, but for the moment they are powerless to do anything about it. That too is regrettable for they in their turn may become the innocent victims of rash men who fail to perceive the double edge of the sword they are forging.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.