NEWS OF THE WEEK
WHILE the immediate military situation at Shanghai has not greatly changed in the past week, important developments seem imminent and the general outlook has appreciably darkened. Bombardments from land, sea and air have been in ceaseless progress and serious damage is being done to foreign property in the International Settle- ment; a further complication arises from the fact that so long as the immunity of the Settlement from actual infantry conflict is maintained the Chinese are, for geographical reasons, placed at a disadvantage, and foreign defence of the neutrality of the Settlement is in effect assistance to Japan. Extensive Japanese landings are in progress, and though the Chinese have in the main held their own so far they have failed in what should have been their first objective, the defeat of the limited Japanese force in Shanghai before the reinforcements known to be on their way from Japan could arrive. The guns of the Japanese fleet in the river have given effective protection to the land forces, and the ships have, so far as is known, remained uninjured by the Chinese air attacks, though the small Chinese air force has in other respects given a good account of itself. The blockade of a thousand miles of the China coast, declared by Japan on Wednesday, may at any moment involve interference with foreign vessels. The fighting in North China has turned in favour of Japan, the stubborn defence of the Nankou pass by the Chinese having been overcome by Japanese artillery and air attack, culminating in bayonet charges and hand-to-hand fighting. The fall of Kalgan is according to some reports an accomplished fact, according to others imminent.
