July 7.
Today the Sino-Japanese conflict enters upon its fifth year, for it was on July 7, 1937, that the incident occurred at Lukuochia which started hostilities in the. north, That is probably.where the Japanese originally intended to localize the struggle, but it quickly spread to the vicinity of Shanghai and now involves the whole of the China coast and a great portion of the Yangtze valley, and the fourth anniversary of the commencement of the "China Incident" finds it still unsettled, When the passage of time places all that has happened during the last four years in China in its proper perspective, it will probably be found that both the Chinese, and the Japanese were unprepared for the developments which occurred with such rapidity after the Lukuochiao incident. Certainly the Japanese be-Tioved that if the Chinese resisted it would only be in north China, and what was original-conceived as a comparatively small affair ultimately became a major struggle between the two countries, which is not even now in any way towards adjustment.
What has undoubledly " surprised the world is the stubborn manner in which the Chinese have resisted the Japanese invasion, Mi-equipped, and for the most part poorly trained at the commencement of hostilities, Chinese troops gave a good account of themselves in several battles and notably the defence of the Shanghai area where against serious odds in the manner of material they held out during a most gruel-Jing ten weeks. Now, driven well back into west China, the National Government at Chungking continues to fight with its arm-{es active in many parts of the country, the Japanese apparently being unable to'em~ bark upon that greater effort which would bbe necessary to reduce China by force of arms. Connected with the outside world through the Burma Rond and getting sup~ plies only via that route and from Russia overland, General Chiang Kai-shek appears still as determined as ever to continue resistance in the hope that the Japanese will succumb to what is, after all, a war of attrition, enabling China to regain her Independence and territorial integrity.
'That' the resistance which the Chinese have put up has been costly in life and treasure may be taken for granted. The expenditure of the Japanese under both headings has been by no means inconsider~ able, and though accurate figures are not available developments in Japan indicate that a very great strain has been placed upon the Japanese in all walks of life in= volving. considerable strain on the social, financial, economic and political structures of the country, Indeed the costliness of the "China Incident" to Japan has already been such as to make it doubtful whether, should she be able to secure ultimate vic~ tory, it can be made a profitable venture for many decades to come. There are doubt~ Jess many in Japan who regret that this struggle was ever allowed to develop in this manner it has since that occurrence at Lukuochiao, They are not, and have not been in control of the Japanese Government for some years past, and it is the extreme military clique in Tokyo which is respon~ sible for embarking upon a course of action four years ago which has produced so much suffering in China and distress in Japan, So far as the nationals of third party Powers in China, are concerned, their interests have been and continue to be tously harmed, It is something of a marvel that they have been able fo carry on they have done in most of the Treaty Port It speaks well for those Various foreign communities that they have been able to kkeop their end up in the manner they have. Unfortunately no end appears to be in sight. The views of the Chinese National Government and that of Japan are so far apart that reconciliation between the two seems hopeless. It seems equally to be the case that neither country is in a position to force decision militarily, with the result that four Years of terrific struggle have resulted in no more than a stalemate between them, 'The Japanese have won victories but they have' not won this undeclared war with China, and the probabilities are that the situation in the Far East will never be adjusted until the democracies have beaten Hitler and his accomplices and driven them out of power. Tt is perhaps in an all round settlement of the world's affairs that peace will be restored to this part of Asia,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.