Cablegram 1279 WASHINGTON, 16 December 1948 Received 18 December
CONFIDENTIAL
INDONESIA
State Department Officials were in touch with Netherlands Embassy yesterday but we have been unable to learn nature of representations, if any. Our impression is that State Department merely asked Dutch reaction [to] Hatta’s letter [1] and expressed hope negotiations would be resumed.
2. Department has received no confirmation of press reports from The Hague that Cabinet has decided to postpone inauguration of provisional federal government. Yet Department Officials claim to be confident that Dutch will agree to resume negotiations.
Butterworth expressed similar views to Indian Minister Nehru yesterday.
3. Your 1001. During recent discussions State Department asked whether Cochran proposals [2] have our complete approval. We had assumed Australian views would be known to Cochran through Critchley, but would appreciate advice, particularly as regards chapter 5 (Armed Forces).
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1 i.e. Hatta’s letter to Cochran dated 13 December (see Document 370).
2 See Documents 237 and 238.
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[AA:A1838, 854/10/4/2, vii]