MEDIATION IN INDONESIA

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

MEDIATION IN INDONESIA

Australian Desire For Consultation

APPROACH TO MR BEVIN LONDON. Juljr 23. It is learned in Australian circles in London that the Australian Minister (Mr J. A. Beasley), with the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (Viscount Addison) saw the Foreign Secretary (Mr Bevin) to-day about mediation in Indonesia. Mr Beasley told Mr Bevin that Australia wished to be consulted about, and associated with, any mediation move that Britain Undertook. The Dutch Government has neither accepted nor rejected the recent British and American mediation offers, and Britain and the United States are now discussing a new approach to the Dutch It is learned that Britain tried hard recently to persuade Holland to hold her hand in Indonesia, even going to a level above the Cabinet, but the so-called “diehard” elements in the Dutch Cabinet, favouring a showdown, prevailed over the more liberal section. There is a feeling in some diplomatic quarters in London that the Dutch may wish to delay the acceptance of mediation while they are securing strategic advantages in Java. In the House of Commons to-day Mr Bevin said he had learned the Netherlands Government’s decision on Indonesia with the keenest regret The British Government had made it plain that it was prepared to place its good offices at the disposal of both parties, and had acted in full consultation with the United States and the Commonwealth.

In The Hague, the Dutch Parliament was told that the Netherlands Government would try to seek a fresh agreement in Indonesia “as soon as the situation permits.” Article 17 of the Cheribon agreement provided for arbitration, but the “question whether the Indonesian Republic may continue hostilities against our forces is not a question for arbitration.”

It was emphasised when the Cheriton agreement was signed that the question whether the Netherlands Government still existed in the interim period was not a subject for arbitration. Dutch sovereignty was the starting point for the whole agreement.