Reference your 422 paragraph 2, INDONESIA. [1]

Have had various discussions on this matter over the past week or
10 days but without gaining any definite impression of the United
Kingdom views. I doubt whether any settled views on the question
exist at all as the people concerned have been giving all their
time to the day to day situation. On this the line taken by Dening
at his meeting with Soekarno and Hatta was previously approved in
London and can be taken as representing the present United Kingdom
attitude.

2. The implication of this is that opinion here contemplates
(A) The restoration of Dutch sovereignty although this will have
to be done gradually and may take considerable time.

(B) The working out in the meantime of some accommodation between
the Dutch and the Indonesians which will give a fairly wide
autonomy to the latter. There is no enthusiasm at all for the
trusteeship idea, partly because of the difficult moments which
arose in this connection during the five Power Conference.

3. The Foreign Office, however, is quite clear that the Dutch have
somehow got to be made to appreciate realities better than they
have done. As an example of this they sent over to Holland the
other day a certain Colonel Van Der Post, a South African who was
interned in Java from March 1942 until this month. [2] Van Der
Post saw the Minister for the Colonies [3], the Foreign Minister
and the Prime Minister [4] and. told them flatly that the
Nationalists were virtually in control of the administration in
Java and could not be got out without months of civil war. Van Der
Post also said that it was a mistake to exclude Soekarno from the
conversations, that they should give their men on the spot as free
a hand as possible and that they should go slow in putting
N.I.C.A. [5] personnel into Java. Van Der Post also met
representatives of Bunes interests and former Government
officials. These for the most part were of the 'firm hand' school
but he seems to have made some impression on the Ministers.

4. When the Netherlands Ambassador called at the Foreign Office
yesterday he was told that it was up to the Dutch to announce the
steps which they were prepared to take to implement the broadcast
of December 1942 [6] as the only way of removing the profound
suspicion and distrust felt by the Nationalists. The Ambassador
agreed with this.

5. Will continue to report as ideas become clearer here.