Your telegram No. 108. [1]

On May 1st 'Aneta' published a Reuter report dated April 29th that
Tjoa had 'called for an immediate session of the Security Council
to consider the "alarming situation" in Indonesia' and had accused
the Dutch of violating the terms of the cease-fire agreement and
of imposing restrictions on plebiscite propaganda in Netherlands-
held territory. Within an hour of its appearance, Van Vredenburch,
as acting chairman of the Netherlands Delegation, brought this
report to the attention of the Committee of Good Offices by letter
and asked that it be discussed by the Steering Committee as soon
as possible. Accordingly a meeting of the Steering Committee was
held yesterday at which Van Vredenburch also referred to an
article in the New York Times of April 30th in which Tjoa was
reported as having accused the Netherlands (inter alia) of a tight
naval blockade of the Republic and of delaying the negotiations.

In this article Tjoa was also attributed with an attack on the
Committee of Good Offices for not having dealt with or
acknowledged many protests by the Republic during the past two
months.

2. At the meeting, Van Vredenburch launched a most heated attack
on Tjoa's reported statements, claiming that they contained many
offensive inaccuracies and that any approach to the Security
Council, official or unofficial, constituted a breach of the
procedural agreement between the parties that reports to the
Security Council would only be made after reference to the other
party and to the Committee of Good Offices. He demanded that the
Republic repudiate the reported statements.

3. Roem replied that he had received a telegram from Tjoa that he
had been incorrectly reported by Reuter, as he had not asked for a
special meeting of the Security Council but had merely held a
press conference at which he had given details of conditions in
Indonesia. Roem also contended that-
(a) Tjoa had not acted on any instructions from the Republican
Government but had addressed the press in an unofficial and
personal capacity, which he was entitled to do;

(b) Even as reported, Tjoa's statements did not constitute a
breach of the procedural agreement which covered only reports to
Security Council;

(c) The Republic could not repudiate Tjoa's actions until it had
received further particulars from him, particularly in regard to
the New York Times article which the Republican delegation had
seen for the first time at the meeting.

4. After a most acrimonious discussion it was agreed that the
Committee should
[issue] a press release [2] referring to the Netherlands
objections to the reports and to Roem's statements thereon.

5. Van Vredenburch held a press conference in Batavia on May 3rd
in which he blamed the Republic for the disappointing progress of
the negotiations at Kalioerang, gave the Netherlands view on
several of the important issues now under negotiation and
disparaged the Republican attitude on some points. Following are
excerpts from the 'Aneta' report of his conference:

(a) 'The Republic is apparently, and incorrectly, of the opinion
that "time is on her side". Incorrectly, because it should be
clear to everyone that Indonesia can only be benefited by a speedy
solution of the conflict which has been kept pending for so long.'
(b) Regarding foreign relations:

'What the Republican government has done in this field has not
been conducive to raising the reputation of Indonesia abroad.' [3]

6. Van Vredenburch's unseemly haste to protest to the Committee
regarding
Tjoa's reported statements, his subsequent press conference, and
his uncompromising attitude at yesterday's meeting, combined with
recent unilateral press communiques by the Netherlands regarding
alleged truce violations [4], cast considerable doubt on Dutch
sincerity and seem to be another attempt to cloud the real issues
with petty complaints which are given a disproportionate
importance in order to create an impression that the Republic is
guilty of bad faith. In view of these developments, closely
following the turmoil over the Jogja station 'incident" the
atmosphere at present is anything but favourable.

7. Republican reports indicate that Dutch restrictions on
Republican propaganda in anticipation of the plebiscite are not
confined to East Java but apply to all Netherlands-occupied
territory. As far as West Java is concerned, this will emerge from
the Committee's recently presented report. [6]

8. Discussions on the plebiscite have now reached a deadlock. The
Netherlands insist that the plebiscite must be held throughout the
whole of Java, Sumatra and Madura (including Republican areas) not
less than six months and not more than twelve months after the
signing of the political agreement, while the Republican view is
that it should be held in Netherlands-occupied territory only and
not less than six months and not more than twelve months after the
Renville agreement. The Netherlands interpretation appears to be
more in line with the actual wording of No. 4 of the six
additional principles [7], but the history of the negotiations and
the logic of the situation would seem to support the Republican
interpretation. The proposals set out in my telegram no. 106 [8]
would, if accepted, overcome this deadlock by avoiding the
plebiscite altogether.

9. The Committee of Good Offices is preparing a progress report on
the negotiations, which should be presented to the Security
Council within a week. The report on Madura will probably follow a
few days later. [1]

10. Will comment later on penultimate sentence your telegram.