JAPANESE ANTIWAR ATTITUDE AFFECTS CHINESE DELEGATE
Nan Han-cheng, chief executive of the Chinese International Trade Promotion Committee, who was sent by Peking as a delegate to the annual convention of the Japan Council Against Atom and Hydrogen Bembs, was very cautious in public statements at the end of July concerning the war in Vietnam.
He told the Japan-China Trade Promotion Association, for instanee, that the future of trade between the two countries could not be affected by any expansion of the war.
In a few days, however, he apparently became much impressed
by the increasingly dynamic antiwar movement in Japan, which is becoming more and more vocal in opposition to Johnson's escalation of the war in Vietnam and the passive acquiescence of the Japanese government in this monstrous course,
At a reception given in his honor August 3 by five organizations interested in trade with China, Nan echoed the charges about the subserviency of the Japanese government to Washington. He stated that economic relations between Japan and China will be affected adversely as long as Japan takes such an attitude.
The Japanese Foreign Office blew its top the very next day, saying it took a "serious view" of the criticism. An unnamed "source" said the Foreign Office could not overlook attempts to have Japan change its policy under threat of using trade with China as a "lever." This is a high-handed attitude, the "source" told the press, which persistently gives preference to "politics."
The "hint" was dropped that the next time Han applies for a visa his request might be rejected.
It remained unclear, nevertheless, how much of the Foreign Office anger was seriously intended and how much was sop aimed at mollifying irritation among the American diplomatic corps.
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