143

Australian Delegation, United Nations, to Department of External Affairs

Cablegram UN686 NEW YORK, 23 July 1947, 4.14 p.m.

IMMEDIATE SECRET

Indonesia.

Following is text of communication from the Netherlands Government to the Secretary-General.

‘From discussions which have been carried on with the Indonesian Republic since signing of the Linggadjati Agreement, March 25th, it has become clear that the present Government of the Republic is either not prepared or not able to implement that agreement.

Furthermore the truce concluded on October 14th 1946 has in reality never been complied with by Republican forces. The Government of the Republic themselves have not denied that hostilities were committed by their forces.

During the last few months, acts of violence, both on demarcation lines in Java and Sumatra and against East Indonesia and Western Borneo, have rather increased than decreased. They were accompanied by a senseless destruction of valuable economic assets.

By maintaining the food blockade a part of the population of Indonesia was brought to the verge of starvation. Hostages are still being imprisoned and held in Republican territory and a hostile and inflammatory propaganda was maintained.

The Netherlands, as the State with whom sovereignty of this treaty rests and which consequently is ultimately responsible for maintaining law and order, cannot allow these [inimical actions] [1] to continue. It has become patently clear that present Republican Government is incapable of maintaining security, law and order in their territory whilst refusing to co-operate with the Netherlands Government to create necessary conditions thereto.

In these circumstances, Her Majesty’s Government have, with the utmost reluctance, been compelled to authorise the Lieutenant Governor-General to resort to police measures of a strictly limited character.

Netherlands Government wished to stress that it maintains its unalterable decision to carry out political programme based upon principles underlying Linggadjati Agreement.

The Netherlands Government confidently hopes that circumstances will soon permit resumption of constructive co-operation with the Republic as desired by innumerable Indonesians in Republican territory, which co-operation already successfully exists with States of East Indonesia and Borneo.’

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1 A sign here indicates ‘mutilated’. The words in square brackets have been inserted from the text of the Dutch communication to the Secretary-General dated 22 July and reproduced in United Nations, Security Council Official Records, Second Year, No. 67, 171st Meeting, 31 July 1947, p. 1625.

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[AA: A1838/274,854/10/4, i]