JAPAN, THE EAST, AND SINGAPORE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVII, Issue 6, 4 December 1926, Page 9

JAPAN, THE EAST, AND SINGAPORE.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—ln your leading articles dealing with Singapore, you will pardon me it 1 say that New Zealand should support the erection of a naval base there, but for other, and I think, more substantial reasons than you mentioned. Our attitude towards Singapore should be guided by reasons which find their validity and truth more in history than on what may seem apparent to the casual observer. Japan's long history has surely proved that she. has invariably acted towards the British Empire with scrupulous honour and fidelity. The statesmen who spoke on behalf of the Imperial Government, in the House of Commons, have invariably acknowledged that, and, therefore, it is not to be expected that Japan, with such a record, will ever attack any of our Dominions in the Pacific. History can furnish no parallel; any nation, with a record like Japan, having ruthlessly broken her moral standards and to have waged war against a former and strong ally. In the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was wholly in the right, for she had to fight for her very existence, as we had, during the Napoleonic wars and in the last Great War. China, too, lias been abominably treated by th© European Powers, and the spirit of grab was only too manifest, by the impudent assumption' of “spheres of influence,” which meant the control and government of large territories' to their own advantage. Still, we need have no fear of China, if we treat her and the Chinese people with scrupulous honour and fair play. What we are now experiencing in China is a harvest due to the exploiting spirit and practices of Germans, Russians, and to many of our own heartless traders. National memories live long and die only after centuries have passed away. Every careful re a dor of modern Chinese history from 1839 to the present day will acknowledge these facts. Now, one word for Singapore: We ought to do all we can to support it, not because we have any fear of being directly involved in a quarrel, but tor the grave reasons that, in time, complications may otherwise arise, and our trade routes must be kept open. Japan, within recent years, has been grossly insulted, and national insults do not die in a day. Japan does not go to war until she believes she may have a reasonable chance of being successful, but that does not mean that she forgets. So far as Europe and America are concerned, I believe I am right when I say that they, with one exception, have never been able to understand the Asiatic mind. The one exception is the British Empire, and even we have made a few mistakes, but the Asiatics, so far as the rest of Europe and America are concerned, have only been able to see and to read in the westerns greed, exploitation, dishonourable conduct and ruthlessness. Now these are the things from “whence wars come.” Let us have Singapore. We require it and may require it very badly before a quarter of a century has passed, but let us at the same time tell tfie Japanese and the Chinese that we do not harbour a single hostile thought to them ; that we desire nothing so much as to live at peace with them, and that we believe they and their- responsible public men have the same feelings towards us.— I am, etc-, WM. THOMSON.