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Show BRITAIN FILES WHJROTEST New Insult to U. S. Flag Reported LONDON. Dec. 22 (JPi The war office announced today that the British garrison at Hong Kong would bs strengthened as the government gov-ernment dispatched the sixteenth protest it has mads to Japan since the outbreak of the far eastern conflict con-flict Sir Robert Leslie Craigie, British ambassador to Tokio, was instructed instruct-ed to protest a Japanese attack on and seizure of a Chinese customs vesser in territorisl waters off the British colony of Hong Kong, December De-cember 11. The double action followed a two and a half hour review of the oriental orien-tal situation by ths cabinet this morning, and yesterday's assertion from Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain Cham-berlain in the house of commons that Japan should not be deceived by British patience. - Troops to Sail The troopship Dunera prepared to . leave Southampton to take aboard the second battalion of Royal Scots at Bombay, who will go to Hong Kong, lying off Canton in south China, which reports have indicated in-dicated the Japanese will attack (Continue! on Peee Twe (Coiiuaa rive) British File 16th Protest; U. S. Flag Insulted Again (Continued from pas Onet shortly with a major offensive. The Royal Scots were scheduled to reach their new post January 28. The protest also requested assurances assur-ances that Japan would reaped Hong Kong and its territorial waters wa-ters in the future. A Japanese vessel was reported to have fired on a Chinese boat When the boat was beached. Japanese Japa-nese sailors entered the territorial waters by motor boats and towed she vessel away. The ambassador was told to ask that Japan's naval forces be Instructed In-structed strictly to respect the British Brit-ish port henceforth. Britain Apprehensive The government is apprehensive over the southward turn of the Chinese-Japanese hostilities, which endanger en-danger the rich crown colony. The government announced In April it planned to spend $40 000.-000 000.-000 to strengthen Hong Kong's defenses. de-fenses. The cabinet also waa believed to have approved preliminary plans for sending mora warships to the! which was flying at the mast of a boat belonging to the General hospital hos-pital at Wuhu. up the river from Nanking. The letters, which were described as coming from "unimpeachable foreign aources," declared tl.e Japanese Japa-nese "threw the flsg into the Yangtze." If this Incident is officially proved. It 11 cxpertedtg-addaut)stantlally to the crisis now severely straining relations between Tokio and Washington Wash-ington as a remit er the bombing and sinking of the United Statea gunboat Panay off Hoshlen by Japanese Jap-anese planes. The letters received here stated the American flag was recovered from the muddy waters of the Yangtze river by an American doctor. doc-tor. Protest Brings "Regrets' They added that hoapital authorities authori-ties immediately made representations, representa-tions, protesting against the alleged insult to the flag, to the Japanese commander at Wuhu, who was re-reported re-reported to have expressed "regrets." "re-grets." It was charged further that other Japanese soldiers ordered the Chinese Chi-nese caretaker to haul down the American flag flying over the Wuhu academy These Nipponese troops, It waa claimed, aearched the building and "blasted the school safe." The charges concerning the alleged al-leged rifling of the aafe climaxed repeated previous reports of looting loot-ing carried out by Japanese troops on their drive through China. TOKIO. Dec. 22 (INS) Stung by statements of Preaident Roosevelt Roose-velt and Prime Miniater Chamberlain Chamber-lain which stressed America'a and Britain's roles in world affairs, the Japanese foreign office tonight suddenly Issued an apologetic preliminary pre-liminary report on the Panay bombing. bomb-ing. Tokio Explains Delay In an evident attempt to ease Washington's irritation over delays, the foreign office spokesman said: that poor communications in China I were responsible 'for the nearly two weeks' wait for the army report on the incident , SHANGHAI DEATH RATE RUNS 20 PER HOUR SHANGHAI. Dee. tt CD Chinese Chi-nese benevolent burial aaeocia-tions aaeocia-tions today reported that 41,043 war refugees died In Shanghai during the last four months, The death rate waa about 24 per hour. far east if developments should warrant war-rant such a move. The admiralty was understood te have adviaed that minimum defense requirements in the Orient demanded dispatch of six capital ships to Chinese waters. Britain already has 34 naval units In the far east. SHANGHAI Dec. 22 (INS) A grave new incident, in which Japanese Japa-nese soldiers were reported to have thrown an American flag into the Yangtse river near Wuhu, brought added tension in American-Japanese relations today. Charge Flag Insult Letters reaching Shanghai charged that the Nipponese troops pulled down an American flag |