Born Yesterday

The baby Republic of Indonesia, just 26 months old, is trying to walk a neutral course down the shaky sidewalk of Southeast Asia. In its uncertainty, it makes a policy of staring haughtily at friendly nods of recognition. Last week a U.S. offer of a mere $8,000,000 worth of technical and economic aid was enough to send the Indonesian parliament into a dither of protests that might yet bring the government tumbling down, cradle and all.

Cry Imperialism. Last January U.S. Ambassador Merle Cochran sent the Mutual Security Pact offer across to Foreign Minister Ahmad Subarjo, duly received it back with a few marginal alterations by Indonesia. Now that the Mutual Security Agency has replaced the Economic Cooperation Administration, a few strings had been attached by the U.S. Congress: before getting those Yankee dollars, foreign governments had to acknowledge their adherence to "the free world." Subarjo disliked these conditions, but signed. A couple of days later two U.S. Army colonels went down to see Defense Minister Sewaka about another matter: a shipment of arms privately purchased in U.S. by the Indonesian government. The news spread through the gossipy capital of Jakarta that the government had sold out to the Western bloc. "American imperialism!" shouted the politicos. A newspaper published a cartoon showing Subarjo on his knees, offering Indonesian independence to MSA, represented by Ambassador Cochran dressed as a bride with a rope in his hand.

The Indonesian government is a coalition of two parties, the Nationalists and the Moslems, each of which has four ministers in the cabinet. Last week, in the Indonesian parliament, leaders of both government parties demanded that the cabinet quit. The Communists looked on with rich enjoyment. After an attempt last August to seize the government by violence, some 10,000 of their party had been arrested. Now all but 189 are free, and most are back in key positions in the government. Once again they stand to profit by Indonesia's soft neutralism.

No Thanks. Foreign Minister Subarjo offered to resign, declaring that Indonesia is too young to understand the established traditions of diplomacy. As for himself, he said, "I was not born yesterday." That night he confidently gave a huge party for President and Madame Sukarno and 300 diplomatic guests, featuring a four-hour Javanese dance. His confidence was a little misplaced. This week Indonesia's ten-month-old cabinet seemed to be riding for a shakeup, if not a fall. Everybody agreed that $8,000,000 from America would be nice, but no one was ready to curtsy a thank you, or call the U.S. friend in any way that could be interpreted as meaningful.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.