Next Invasion Threat? INDONESIA’S CLAIMS TO WEST NEW GUINEA

Press, Volume C, Issue 29504, 4 May 1961, Page 14

Next Invasion Threat? INDONESIA’S CLAIMS TO WEST NEW GUINEA

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ANTHONY DORSET]

of th* "XconomUt”]

(From th* "Economist" lnt*Uig*nc* Unit)

London, April 26.—The next trouble spot, where the threat of invasion already looms, looks like being the western half of the island of New Guinea, long disputed between the Netherlands and Indonesia. On April 25 the Indonesian Foreign Minister. Dr. Subandrio, said in Washington that if his country’s proposals for the territory were not accepted the possibility of military action would not be ruled out by the Indonesian Government. Indonesia claims the western section of New Guinea, which it calls “West Irian, as part of its own territory; it is the last fragment of the Dutch East Indies that has remained under the rule of The Hague. The Indonesians failed to wrest it from Dutch control at the time of .their own independence, and the Dutch have maintained that, ethically and politically, the tribes of New Guinea, only slowly emerging from a prehistoric state, have nothing in common with the Indonesians. The reiterated claims and counter-claims have been rejected on both sides without any prospect of compromise. and now relations have dipped to a new low level. Dutch Forces Move The present crisis has been brewing for 18 months. Indonesia has received modern military equipment, including aircraft, from the Soviet Union; and its growing ability to strike directly at New Guinea led to substantial Dutch reinforcements being sent out in April last year. These reinforcements included the aircraft carrier, Karel Doorman, and two i destroyers, whose voyage prompted violent reactions by the Indonesian Government, ending in the breaking off of diplomatic relations with The Hague last August. The Karel Doorman had an unlucky voyage. Australian dockers refused to moor the carrier at Fremantle and, in September, the Japanese ■ Government. under Indonesian pressure, asked for a i postponement of a friendly visit that the Dutch warships had planned to make on their way home. The Dutch, however, continued to send out detachments of troops and air force personnel. Indonesia retaliated by stepping up its air patrols between the Moluccas and New Guinea, and last November the Dutch reported the capture of a group of Indonesians, armeff with automatic weapons, who had landed on the south-west coast. The diplomatic position of the Netherlands Government has been that it is prepared to hand over west New Guinea to the United Nations at some future (and so far. undefined) date. In the meantime, it has begun to introduce the local population to a share in the government of the territory, and has started setting up village, town, and regional councils. The Indonesians, on their side, have invariably refused to admit that the United Nations might have a say in the matter, believing that such an admission would prejudice their own outright claim to the country. Mediation Fails In an attempt to bring the two sides together, the Malayan Prime Minister, Tungku Abdul Rahman, offered to mediate in the dispute last October, but without the slightest success The Dutch refused to give what they called a blank cheque to the United Nations: and the Indonesians, as before. rejected any United Nations intervention. Since the Malayan attempt broke down, the issue has been further exacerbated. On March 10 this year Indonesia broke off its remain-

ing indirect link* with the Dutch. which had been maintained through Britain and the United Arab Republic—a step virtually unprecedented without an actual declaration of war. The Netherlands Government has been visibly disturbed by this deterioration, and the Dutch Foreign Minister Dr. Luns, came to London during the last Commonwealth conference for talks at the Foreign Office and with the Commonwealth Prime Ministers most concerned in the New Guinea area—Mr Menzies of Australia Mr Nehru of India, and Tungku Abdul Rahman. The Dutch are in a difficult strategic position, but until now the distraction of the Indonesian army in fighting rebellious provincial forces had made an actual invasion of New Guinea seem improbable. Indonesia has now proposed that the United Nations should take over west New Guinea for a period of two years, after which the territory would pass to Indonesia without further question This is not a plan to appeal to the Dutch. But Dr. Subandrio's talk of an invasion if these proposals are not accepted sounds ominously as if the Indonesians feel that they have their internal rebellion safely under control—and can spare the men for a serious bid for “West Irian." U.N. Settlement? Britain has been generally sympathetic to the Dutch in their predicament, although it would like to have seen a more positive offer from The Hague to submit the issue to the United Nations for settlement The big test, however, is for Australia, which is responsible for the rule of the eastern half of New Guinea, over which the Indonesians have so far made no claim. The Australians have tried to keep on good terms with both sides, but any invasion of New Guinea would have to be taken very seriously indeed. There is a ease for arguing that New Guinea should eventually be treated as a whole, after advancing politically and economically under trusteeship, although the ability of its population to conduct a modern State is perhaps more dubious than that of almost any other people in the world. The difficulty is that, because of past quarrels, Indonesia is unwilling to see the Dutch there indefinitely or to accept a prolonged United Nations trusteeship, at least in the western half. The last chapter of the disastrous Dutch policy In the East Indies may now be a violent one.