Japan and the Russo-German Pact
Of all countries directly affected by Herr Hitler's pact with Bolshevism, Japan has the strongest reason for feeling betrayed. It is admitted in Tokyo that the pact may be a master-stroke of German diplomacy, which may open the way to a bloodless victory over Poland. But at the same time it is only too clear that Russia's compensation is a free hand in Eastern Asia. Communist comments on the pact insist that it will be followed by an intensification ■A Soviet- Japanese hostilities on Russia's Mongolian frontiers. to which reinforcements are already reported to have been .,snt, and an increase in the direct assistance given to China ; 't would accord with what is known of Stalin's personal inclinations if he abandoned the war with Fascism in Europe in order to advance Russian interests in China and assist the progress of the Chinese national revolution. And in fact no victory over Fascism in the West could equal in importance for Russia the defeat of Japan in China. Thus Japan has good reason to draw gloomy conclusions from the pact. But there are some possible compensations. Firstly, the weakening of the Western democracies, especially Great Britain, that would result from a German triumph over Poland ; secondly, the possibility of a European war, from which Japan could remain aloof, with no obligation except to seek her own interest ; thirdly, the smashing blow dealt by the pact to the Army's campaign for a complete military alliance with the Axis.
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