The Importance of Indonesia
The Dutch Government knew that their action in Java would produce a bad impression. Dr. van Mook, the Lieutenant-Governor- General, has said as much. They nevertheless decided that force must be used to bring the Republicans to an honest observance of the terms of the Linggadjati agreement, and they have continued to occupy key points in both Java and Sumatra in the face of a Republican resistance which is either very weak or very subtle. The latter possibility cannot yet be ruled out. It is always possible that the first stage of Dutch advance will be followed by a much longer stage of guerrilla warfare, and it is probable that the results of such a course would be even more disastrous both to the local economy and to world trade than any damage so far caused by the Indonesian scorched earth tactics. Since their action shows every sign of delibera- tion, the presumption must be that the Dutch authorities feel that they can avoid such a disaster. They have at least convinced their own people, for disagreement with the official line now seems to be confined to a small Communist element in the trade unions. That they have so far failed to convince the British and American Govern- ments is fairly clear. Meanwhile Pandit Nehru has removed all doubts as to the determination of India to bring the question before the Security Council of the United Nations. He has repudiated any intention to supply the Republican forces with weapons, but he has affirmed in strong terms the right of the people of Indonesia, or any other Asian country, to go their own way without Western mili- tary interference. The Indian representative on the Economic and Social Council has taken the same line with, if anything, even greater vigour. The ripples of the conflict in Java are spreading over the whole of the East and the effect is uniformly bad. It still remains true that the irresponsibility of the Indonesian Republicans is a major cause of the Dutch action, but the complete innocence of Dutch motives must still be proved in the end by the resumption of progress towards Indonesian independence at the point at which it was so suddenly broken off.
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