Politics in Japan
The " important announcement " foreshadowed for Wednesday of this week by a Japanese Foreign Office spokesman did not materialise. Instead a political crisis was threatened, and may perhaps still be forced, by an ultimatum presented by the Prime Minister, General Abe calling on him to proffer the resignation of the Cabinet. Since the demand came from a meeting attended by more than half the representatives of the Diet, which opened its new session last Tuesday, it must be taken seriously. General Abe is not a Parliamentarian, and he is unlikely to show much skill in debate. The trouble, indeed, is that very few Cabinet Ministers are Parliamentarians. japan has for the last seven years been governed mainly by bureau- crats, and it is not surprising that the established parties should be growing restive. The moment is propitious for them, for two and a half years of war, and a war at present in a state of stagnation so far as the attainment of fresh objectives is concerned, has involved the population in serious hardships, and stirred them, stoical as they are, to audible complaints. There will be no formal debates in the Diet for the next three weeks, and by that time the Government may have strengthened itself by concluding a new trade agreement with the United States or achieving some striking military success in China. That, however, seems unlikely in view of the Chinese winter offensive which has just opened.
