§ 19. Lieut.-Colonel Macnamaraasked the Prime Minister whether he can make a statement as to the extent of the hostilities in progress in the Far East between Russia, or Russian influenced, and Japanese, or Japanese influenced, troops; and how British interests are affected thereby?
§ Mr. ButlerAccording to reports which my Noble Friend has received, clashes are stated to have taken place in the 1791 neighbourhood of Lake Buir, on the Manchurian-Mongolian border, between Soviet-Mongolian forces and Japanese-Manchurian forces. Fighting, in which tanks and aeroplanes have been engaged, appears to have taken place at intervals since nth May. The extent of the forces involved and the casualties sustained are obscure owing to the conflicting reports published by both sides, and as the region is remote and inaccessible. There are no British residents or property in the area.
§ 28. Captain Ramsayasked the Prime Minister whether the League of Nations has ever notified the acts of aggression committed by Soviet armies in China, which culminated in the imposition of the Soviet system on the Province of Sinkiang in 1933, and subsequently on the Province of Szechuan?
§ Mr. ButlerThere has undoubtedly been a wide extension of Russian influence in Sinkiang during the last few years. But the system of government has not been Sovietised in either of these Chinese provinces, nor has either been the object of armed aggression by the Soviet Union.
§ Captain RamsayIs it not a fact that the same forces of international finance that made these acts of aggression are also trying to force a war at the present moment?