Foreign News: Frankness

To the vast astonishment of the Tokyo press corps last week, that usually suave diplomat, Foreign Minister Koki Hirota, took the gloves off and bluntly explained that the real purpose of Japan's expeditionary force is not to conquer China, but to kick out Chinese Generalissimo Chiang Kaishek. In words chosen with far less tact than his sovereign was about to use to explain the Sino-Japanese War, Mr. Hirota observed: "We are fighting anti-Japanese movements in China. These exist largely in the Chinese Army, and General Chiang Kai-shek is their spearhead. The leaders of...