At 3.15 p.m. December 17th Cochran received a telegram from
Schuurman conveying the Netherlands' reply [3] to Hatta's letter
of 13th December [4] which Cochran had passed to the Dutch. The
following is a summary:-

(A) Hatta's letter contained Hatta's personal thoughts written
'very roughly and informally', and by itself 'cannot induce the
Netherlands Government to revise the conclusions set out in its
note [5] of 11th December';

(B) No reference is made in Hatta's letter to truce violations
though the Republic is well aware of the importance attached by
the Netherlands to the truce observance;

(C) As the Republican report on direct talks [6] mentions certain
points which the Republic considers essential and on which the
Netherlands' agreement could not be obtained and as the same
report indicates that the Republic has reached the extreme limit
of possible concessions, the Netherlands does not agree that any
misunderstandings can exist;

(D) Though Hatta's letter refers to the opinions of the Republican
Government the contents of the letter are on a number of essential
points not sufficiently formulated to constitute a starting point
for effective discussions;

(E) The Netherlands Government would willingly have resumed
negotiations if the Republican Government had declared its
willingness to take forthwith measures desired by the Netherlands
regarding truce violations and if Hatta instead of giving personal
views had made a declaration binding the Republican Government
that the Republican Government concurs in:-

(1) The incorporation of the Republic in the Federal Organisation
on the same footing as the other Federal areas;

(2) Expansion of position and authority of the high representative
as set out in draft of Interim Government decree (K205 paragraph 1
(D));

(3) The articles in the above mentioned decree concerning Federal
forces, states of war and siege and state insecurity;

(F) The Netherlands Government maintains its point of view that
the continuation of negotiations is futile unless such a binding
declaration is received forthwith and still considers immediate
promulgation of BIO decree [7] necessary;

2. Schuurman's telegram concludes with a demand for a reply from
the Republican Government to be 'in Batavia before Saturday 18th
December 10 a.m.'.