Cablegram UN604 NEW YORK, 7 July 1948, 4.27 p.m.
IMMEDIATE SECRET
Security Council 6th July. [1] Indonesia.
1. Palar raised the subject of the Dutch blockade making the following points:-
(I) The Dutch are continuing their warfare not militarily but politically and economically.
(II) The present standstill in negotiations means a strong advantage to the Dutch.
(III) Implementation and enforcement of the regulations on importation military and semi-military goods preclude the entry into the Republic of a wide range range of goods including many necessary for the reconstruction and development of Indonesia and also such things as textiles and even medicines and surgical instruments.
(IV) Considerable portions of the North Coast of Java and the East Coast of Sumatra are still closed to shipping.
2. Palar asked the Council to give its opinions on the blockade after receipt of an early report from the Committee of Good Offices.
3. We supported the Indonesian request. The Netherlands stated that the matter should be left to the Committee of Good Offices and not dealt with by the Security Council.
4. After desultory debate mainly on procedure, the Council adopted by 8 votes a Chinese proposal made in conformity with Palar’s suggestion to request from the Committee ‘an early report on the existing restrictions on domestic and international trade of Indonesia and the reasons for the delaying of the implementation of Article 6 of the truce agreement’. [2]
5. Soviet Russia and Ukraine abstained apparently on the grounds that they wanted the communication to make specific reference to the Dutch blockade.
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1 The full text of this discussion is given in United Nations, Security Council Official Records, Third Year, No.92, 329th Meeting, 6 July 1948, pp.1-30.
2 See Article 6 of Document 22.
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[AA:A1838, 854/10/4/2, vi]