DUTCH TERMS IN INDONESIA

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25270, 23 August 1947, Page 9

DUTCH TERMS IN INDONESIA

Broadcast By Dr. Van Mook DEMANDS UPON REPUBLIC (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 7 p.m.) BATAVIA, August 21. Four demands on the Indonesian Republic were made by the Lieuten-ant-Governor of the Netlierlands East Indies (Dr. H. J. Van Mook) in a national broadcast last night. They were:— (1) The Republic must end acts of violence. (2) It must end hostilities, not only against Netherlands troops, but against the peaceful inhabitants of the territories occupied by the Dutch. (3) Orders for sabotage and terror must be countermanded. (4) The threat must be withdrawn against those whose “correct knowledge of their task brought about their co-operation with our restoration of a decent administration and sound economy.” Dr. Van Mook said it must be clear that the Netherlands Government could not remain permanently responsible for circumstances which resulted from the action of the Republican Government. He promised: (1) that the boundaries of those parts of Java and Sumatra which had been brought under Netherlands protection would be defined; (2) where the inhabitant! established constructive political organisations they would have Netherlands support; and (3) an interim government would be established as soon as possible. Areas Under Dutch Control. The opportunity for Jogjakarta to change its attitude and methods was still open, but it could not remain open indefinitely, said Dr. Van Mook. The areas that had been made safe

by Dutch action were widening, and the authority of the present Republican Government could no longer be recognised there.

“A Government—a real decent Government—is rapidly being organised there, and it shall have every assistance we can provide. The Japaneseinspired nightmare is passing and it shall not return,” he said. Neither the Indonesians, nor the world, nor the Dutch, could tolerate the continuation of a regime which held its own by murder, arson, and torture. “We have stopped our action to reaffirm our willingness to try every method of minimising the use of force,” he added. A spokesman at the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague said that the Dutch Government was net surprised at the United States' withdrawal of its offer of good offices in the Indonesian problem. The withdrawal was the logical conclusion of the Indonesian reply which, like so many of its other replies, was evasive and meant to be a rejection.