CHERIBON OCCUPIED BY DUTCH

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25245, 25 July 1947, Page 7

CHERIBON OCCUPIED BY DUTCH

Eastern Peninsula Of Java Cut Off

REPUBLICANS SUFFER BIG LOSSES

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright) (Rec. 1.30 a.m.) BATAVIA, July 24. The Dut ch commander in Indonesia (Lieutenant-General S H. Spoor) has announced that Cheribon was occupied to day in the drive against the Republican forces. The fmX Trawas, Patjet, Tretes and Pandikan, in East lava, X oc cup Kid from the Sukhaya front, and the whole eastern peninsula has been pinched off by the Dutch forces. P k • n Q^?Tiih a a a a a ’? he tow ? s of Hnwwmfc Tjikumpak, Suka-

n w a * S T poor “id that the populations of the occupied towns in West Java were quiet and helpful. Most of the Rcpuhhcuo “™y ran away without serious clashes. Populations which hpd been evacuated were now returning.

Lieutenant-General Spoor said that there were no signs that a guerrilla war was developing, but mopping-up operations would be necessary. The Dutch forces in the middle of Java were now stationed m Toentang and Ambarawa in operations from Samarang. '

In Sumatra, three columns driving from the oil port of Palembang, had taken the Shell and Standard oilfields without serious opposition. Lieuten-ant-General Spoor said that disciplinary action would be taken against Dutch Air Force pilots who had strafed a train and some cars. He did not believe that the Indonesian casualties had been serious. Repub-

lican reports that Dutcb aircraft-had strafed an Indonesian town were “lies.” “We strafed airports only.” he said. The An tar a (Indonesian) News Ser-

vice says thatjMalang has been reoccupied by the Republican forces. Observers say it is now evident that it is not the intention of the Dutch Army to take Malang, or to make further advances in Central Java unless they are provoked. The Jogjakarta radio an Indonesian Army communique reports: “On the central front, the Dutch

reached Plamonghari, near Ambarawa, ? s . 20 miles from Samarang. The Dutch used artillery, but the Republican troops are resisting firmly.” The Antara Service reports that Chinese forces from north Sumatra have captured part of Medan, the Dutch-held capital of the island, on the north-east coast. Bombs were dropped by Dutch aircraft on Pematang Siantar, about 45 miles southwest of Medan. A truck evacuating Chinese from nearby Delitua was attacked by a Dutch aircraft One man was killed and two children were wounded.

Damage to Chinese property estimated at some 5,000,000 guilders has been caused by the Republican scorch-earth policy in occupied towns in west Java. Chinese sources say that 13 rice factories worth 1,000,000 guilders were demolished and that at least 200 Chinese houses and shops were razed by fire.

The “New York Times,” in a leading article, says it is probable that the Dutch have underestimated both the temper of the Republicans and the magnitude of* the job they have set for themselves. “Instead of making the Nationalist elements more amenable to the Dutch terms, the military campaign may only solidify and spread a widely-held Indonesian desire for complete freedom from Dutch rule,” it adds. “Indonesia would then become another Indo-China, with no Dutchman able to leave a garrisoned town alone without endangering his life.” •

Advocating action by the United Nations, the “New York Times” says: “This is more than a colonial problem. The Dutch had not, as they said, relinquished sovereignty over the East Indies, but they had ratified an agreement which recognised the de facto authority of the Republican Government over the area into which they have now sent their armed forces.”