INDIES POLICY

New Zealand Herald, Volume 82, Issue 25396, 28 December 1945, Page 5

INDIES POLICY

TALKS IN LONDON BRITISH AND DUTCH SITUATION REVIEWED (Bed 11.55 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 Diplomatic quarters expect the Anglo-Dutch conference in London to result in a liberal Dutch policy toward the Indonesians' self-rule aspirations, says the New York limes' correspondent in London. The British Labour Government is reported to be dissatisfied at the Dutch approach to the problem, and to be determined to extricate itself from its present politically and militarily embarrassing position. The British are expected to establish March as the deadline for the withdrawal of their troops from Java. Moreover. they are unwilling to reinforce the two British divisions there. At the same time, it is pointed out that the Attlee Government cannot go too far toward meeting the Inonesian demands because, in the first place, it might inspire a similar situation in some British colonial possessions in the Far East, and secondly, Britain desires to retain the friendliest relations with the Netherlands in the post-war organisation of Western Europe. - iwever, the British at the moment are pursuing a programme in Java designed to minimise the possibilities of armed conflict with the Indonesians, and limiting ' their activities to the terms of the Allied directive—disarming the Japanese and liberating prisoners and internees. The Dutch, on the other hand, feel that the British have an added responsibility of "restoring the State and community." This difficult task seems impossible of accomplishment on purely "Military measures, since the Dutch have only 5000 marines on the island.