Washington, June 22.
The Secretary of State, Mr. Cordell Hull; stated at a press conference today that he took a calm view of the situation in Swatow.
The State Department, he declared, did not intend to take up the situ tion with Tokyo.—Reuter.
Occupation "Unimportant"
Paris, June 23.
The Japanese occupation of Swatow will have no important effect on future developments in the Sino-Japanese war, Dr. Wellington Koo, Chinese Ambassador to France, told the press yesterday.
Dr. Koo said relatively small quantities of Chinese military s plies entered China through Swatow and added that the occupation of the city had brought the Japanese no nearer to their objective of winning the war in "European style."
He said Japanese victories sound well on paper, but faithful to her guerilla tactics, China's ability to prolong the war indefinitely and wear down her enemy is unimpaired.
"Faction against Swatow," he added, "unquestionably is a preliminary to virtual action against Hongkong whenever the Japanese consider that the psychological moment has arrived."—United Press.
There- had been a complete misconception with regard to the situation at Swatow, a Japanese Navy spokesman revealed at the press conference yesterday in Shanghai. The report that a Japanese ultimatum had been delivered to the foreign Powers to evacuate their vessels from the port, appeared to have arisen in Hongkong, he stated, while the British Admiralty had revealed that no ultimatum had peen received.
The Japanese authorities, in view of the necessity of military operations, asked for the removal of foreign warships and merchant vessels from Swatow by 1 o'clock on Thursday afternoon, he continued. The merchant vessels had complied with the orde but the American commander of the South China Florilla had called upon the Japanese Commander-in-Chief. at Swatow and had asked for permission to go ashore to see whether all American lives and property were safe. This request was granted.
The American Commander, according to the spokesman, indicated that as his presence was no longer necessary he would withdraw from Swatow r the immediate" vicinity of the cone of operations. The communication from Admiral Yarnell the spokesman continued, was couched in extremely conciliatory terms and indicated that the presence of American warships in Swatow was for the purpose of protecting American lives and property. Admiral Yarnell had also stated that it was not the intention of the American naval authorities to interfere with Japanese military operations and that the vessels there would not interfere with any engagements against Chinese troops.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.