3 FEBRUARY 1923, Page 1

M. Joffe, the Soviet envoy to China, has arrived in

Tokyo on an informal and unofficial but none the less vital and significant visit to the Japanese Govern- ment. According to the Times 'correspondent at Tokyo, a Japanese paper states that Japan has decided to with- draw from Northern Sakhalin unconditionally as a preliminary to the opening of a second conference. Recognition of Soviet Russia is also, it is said, uncle' consideration. There are signs, it is stated, of an approaching crisis in regard to Manchuria, where Bo'. shevik influence has been spreading. This, of course, means that Chinese sovereignty is to be challenged. Is Japan reconsidering her Chinese policy ?