Indonesia

Fighting In

Fate of Western New Guinea

THE Commission of three Dutchmen and three Indonesians, set up Jointly by Holland and Indonesia to report on the future administration of Dutch New Guinea—the status of which must be decided before December 31—has sub mitted a report. Actually, there are two reports—one by the Dutch, insisting that Western New Guinea shall remain Dutch, and one by the Indonesians, demanding its transfer to Indonesia.

We are back precisely where we were before the Commission was set up. Wes tern New Guinea remains under Dutch occupation: but the Indonesians continue with clamorous demands for its posses sion.

Meanwhile, the ambition of the power drunk Javanese (the original “Republic”) to dominate the whole of the Federation called “the Republic of the United States of Indonesia” is being resisted by some of the non-Javanese States. A bitter war is in progress in the Molucca archipelago between troops of the Javanese “Repub lic” and Eastern Indonesians (Macassar, etc.) who are apparently supported by the Dutch. Although these operations are in progress only a few hundred miles from New Guinea, little has been heard of them.

A coup d’etat in Western New Guinea by the Indonesians is thought to be quite likely. In that event, fighting will almost certainly start in Western New Guinea between Indonesians and Dutch—and, this time, it seems possible that Australia will go in on the side of the Dutch.

Mr. Adrian C. Mayer, Research Scholar of the Australian National University, accompanied by his wife, left Sydney in July for Fiji, where he will do a year’s work. He is especially interested in the Indian problem in Fiji.