465

Critchley to Department of External Affairs

Cablegram K15 BATAVIA, 14 December 1947, 12.40 p.m.

TOP SECRET

Sjarifoeddin informed us today that Grey was endeavouring to persuade him and the Authorities at Djokjakarta that since the Republican position was so weak, they must accept the Dutch terms.

[1]

2. We have reason to believe that the prime objective of the visit of Beel, Drees and Jonkman [2] is to organize and formalize the interim Government for the United States of Indonesia, based on the puppet States. If and when this policy becomes clear, I will work on the basis:

(a) that it will be necessary for the Republic to insist on their right of consultation, etc. in terms of the principles underlying Linggadjati, which the Dutch claim they have not abandoned in principle, and also to insist that the Committee of Good Offices, which is at present in Indonesia for the express purpose of assisting the two parties to reach an agreement, should be brought in (b) that the Committee itself should bring clearly to the notice of the Netherlands the correctness of the Republic’s position.

3. These developments emphasize the importance of the views of Kirby in paragraph 11 of his K.2. [3]

_1 See Document 477, paragraph 1.

2 See Document 464, note 7.

3 Document 440.

_

[AA:A1838/274, 854/10/4/2, ii]