SITUATION IN INDONESIA

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24866, 4 May 1946, Page 7

SITUATION IN INDONESIA

Republican Claims Restricted

DIFFERENCE WITH DUTCH (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright.)

(Rec. 8 p.m.) THE HAGUE. May 2. "A way out of the deadlock which appeared to' threaten the discussions with* the Indonesian Nationalists was found when the Indonesians showed appreciation of the manner in which the difficulties in French Indo-China were settled,” said the Minister of Overseas Territories (Professor Logeman) speaking in Parliament. Professor Logeman said that the Indonesian Prime Minister (Sutan Sjahrlr) and his followers, in order to come to an agreement by which an end should be put to violence, were prepared to restrict their .claims to those territories where the republic exercised de facto authority. “On the subject of the extent of that territory there is a difference of ooinion between them and the Dutch Government which so far is unsolved,” he added. Professor Logeman said he was confident that this solution would save the Dutch East Indies.

Authority In Java Professor Logeman reported that the Netherlands Government was prepared to recognise that the Indonesian Republic had de facto authority over those parts of Java and Madura which were not occupied by the Allied forces. He added that the Indonesians asserted that they had de facto authority bver Sumatra, but the Dutch Government denied this, although only small areas of Sumatra were held by Allied forces. It considered that all the "outer regions," including Sumatra, must be allowed to express their wishes about their future status within the framework of Indonesia. If practically all the areas in the outix regions voted for a republic, Indonesia would become a united state Instead of a federation of states. * Professor Logeman said that the republic’s willingness to accept the petition of a constituent part of Indonesia in the Dutch Empire implied the abandonment of the idea of a revolution. "The Indonesians, in so many words, are prepared to recognise Netherlands sovereignty,” he said. “They have also expressed willingness to ba*e Indonesia* future structure on the principles contained in the declaration of February 10. Given the fact that this declaration envisaged Indonesians a federative union of autonomous parts, a declaration makes ample provision tor the inclusion of a re ®One C ’of the chief objections to a republic— that it is the' bearer ot a revolution—will disappear of its own accord when this organisation abandons its revolutionary attitude by recognising the sovereignty of the Crown. It can be expected tttat once co-operation with the Government is restored, the present leader of the republic will soon be able to overcome the rest ot the serious objections of which the Indonesians themselves are also aware—that the safety of life and property is threatened, that there is little freedom of thought, and that the Japanese are playing a suspicious role in Javanese life.”

Australian Trade unions Australian trade unions and the former exiled Netherlands East Indies war-time administration in Brisbane are blamed among other things for many of Java’s difficulties in the report of the five-man Parliamentary commission of Right Wing members to the Lower House. The report blames the South-east Asia Command for ordering internees to remain after the Japanese surrender, Britain for allowing 35,000 Japanese to remain free for eight months after the beginning of the disarmament and evacuation of the surrendered Japanese: and the fact that the commander of the occupation forces was Independent of “the sovereign authority recognised by the British,” the fact that Dutch civil servants were treated on an equal footing with Republican Indonesians, and Australian trade unions which “sought to foster Indonesian independence and hinder the Dutch.”

The commission, whose report is boycotted by the Left Wing members, estimated that damage to cultivation, factories and residential areas totalled lt also alleged that stolen rubber was being sold regularly to the Chinese in the Malay Peninsula in exchange for arms. The commission declared that ah Indonesian Republic freed from the Netherlands undoubtedly could obtain loans internationally but “only on conditions permitting the lenders to exert real authority over these areas.’’