50. Sometimes it happens that we reach a turning point in international relations, when the course of our actions is narrowly circumscribed and we are made acutely conscious of the fact that the future awaits only the verdict of our triumph or failure. It is at such a time in history that this session of the General Assembly convenes, coming as a hiatus between the crises in the Middle East and the Far East. Whatever we do, whether we mark time or rise to the challenge, we will be shaping to a great extent the future course of events.
51. In the immediate post-war period, when Europe lay war-shattered and the nations of Asia and Africa justly claimed their right to develop their individual national identities on the basis of equality, the founding of the United Nations represented the supreme effort of the community of nations to establish a new equilibrium in our international life. It rested, hi the first place, upon the hope that the close association forged between the leading Powers in time of war would endure in time of peace. But this hope, slim to begin with, was bound not be realized at that time. With the emergence of the cold war, the final curtain of disillusionment was rung down. In the United Nations, the great Powers fought out their differences with words while building up their military strength.
52. After all that had already been accomplished, it is perhaps not too surprising that disillusionment should have led the great Powers to turn once again to the old conventional means of ensuring their security. But what we must remember is that the building up of military strength and alliances was a stop-gap measure. It was not designed to replace the original idea of co-operation among the leading Powers in the United Nations. At the same time, it could obviously not achieve the close association that had obtained among the wartime allies. Moreover, the fashioning of military alliances was an emergency measure to maintain the status quo in Europe, where the countries concerned already have a long history of independent nationhood.
53. But, in time, reliance upon military arms and pacts became a fixed position. Europe was divided into two armed camps — the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and those of the Warsaw Pact. And even while, in recent years, there has been a growing tendency in Europe to try to replace this uneasy status quo through greater rapprochement among the leading Powers on a basis similar to that achieved in Austria, the policy of armed strength and military alliances was vigorously pursued by the opposing blocs on the continents of Asia and Africa, with varying degrees of success. The Asian-African countries, which had theretofore been spared full involvement in the cold war, were slowly but surely being dragged into the maelstrom of the arms race. Today, no one can doubt that the cold war has not only spilled over into Asia and Africa, but actually is centred on those continents, with the most ominous consequences for the world.
54. From the very beginning, and especially at the Bandung Conference, we have warned against this development. We have said all along that the formation of military pacts and alliances was not the way to reduce international tensions and differences. But our words were not heeded. As recently as the twelfth session of the General Assembly, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia told this body that, with Asian involvement in the cold war, “we must give up all notions of complacency that nowadays local wars or even local tensions can be isolated or arrested before they explode into a world conflagration" [700th meeting, para. 1611. Recent events have only too clearly confirmed the truth of this assessment.
55. Indeed, the need to review the wisdom of continuing to pursue a cold-war policy based on military arms can no longer be for anyone an academic question. Since the inception of the cold war, there has been an almost complete absence of new thinking and ideas in the direction of redeeming the lost hope of the early post-war period and implementing new policies that could secure, or at least make possible in the future, closer co-operation among the leading Powers. The great Powers have become prisoners of their own military way of thinking. And as if the failure to evolve new political conceptions in over a decade is not bad enough, what is even more dangerous and inexcusable is to have this failure result in the transference of policies from Europe to Asia and Africa, where they are patently unworkable. The consequence of this, as we must all appreciate by now, is turmoil and conflict that bring us to the brink of war. We have had, in a relatively short time, two emergency special sessions of the General Assembly to deal with crises in the Middle East. And even this regular session, overshadowed by the- crises in different corners of Asia and Africa, may well be described as meeting in an emergency situation.
56. At the third emergency special session of the General Assembly there was a general recognition of the force of nationalism in the Arab world, in particular, and in Asia and Africa in general. But what we still would like to see is this appreciation reflected in a new approach by the West towards Asian-African nationalism. Such a new approach would necessitate a clean break from the habitual tendency to confuse nationalism with communism. This confusion leads to a policy which, in the name of containing communism, actually contains or seeks to contain resurgent nationalism. A glaring example of this policy was shown by the events in Iraq, where the West sought to strengthen itself against communism. But it was the force of nationalism, not communism, which found self-expression in Iraq. It is, moreover, rather ironic and sad that the West has actually brought nationalism and communism perhaps closer together than ever before on the question of the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops from the Middle East.
57. I say with all earnestness that if the West, for its own security and well-being, wants to reach an understanding with Asian-African nationalism, it must first rid itself of the practice of thinking purely in cold-war terms of anti-communism and pro-communism. It must desist from using a so-called communist menace to maintain the status quo against the rising tide of nationalism and progress. This is the initial step. The next and equally important step is to assess properly what in the eyes of Asia and Africa constitutes positive dynamic nationalism.
58. Certainly on the most critical issue facing the world today — the crisis of Quemoy and Matsu — the element of nationalism divides Asia and the West. The latter cannot properly appraise the situation in the Far East so long as it remains insensible to the components of Asian nationalism. While the Western Press still refers to the authorities in Taiwan as the "Nationalist", as far as we are concerned they have long ago forfeited any claim to nationalism in favour of securing foreign protection. It is not the authorities in Taiwan but the Government of the Chinese People's Republic which — especially in regard to Quemoy and Matsu — is acting on the same principle of nationalism to which we adhere. We do not ascribe to their political ideology, nor do we stand in judgement on it. But we do ascribe to and are sympathetic towards the legitimate aspirations of the Chinese people to develop their own national identity and unity.
59. Indeed, if anything has created the present perilous Situation, it is the refusal of some countries to realize that a national revolution has taken place in China, and that it is no less a legitimate national revolution irrespective of whether we happen to like or to dislike the particular ideology practised by new China.
60. The islands of Quemoy and Matsu are obviously for the Government of the People's Republic of China a matter involving its national security and integrity. No self-respecting government can allow its ports to be blockaded, its shipping interfered with, and its coastal islands transformed into arsenals for purposes of provocation and even invasion. As the representative of Burma has pointed out [756th meeting], while we may regret the use of force by the People's Republic of China, we must also not forget that there are two sides to this grave dispute. An even stronger statement was made by the Foreign Minister of Canada, who said: "If one is to condemn the use of force, one must also condemn provocations to the use of force." [759th meeting, para. 109.1 We fully subscribe to this proposition.
61. For the moment, I do not want to delve any further than this into the convulsive situation in the Far East. We still have hopes of avoiding impending disaster through negotiations, although these hopes were rather dimmed by the recent vote in this Assembly [resolution 1239 (XIII)] not to consider the question of Chinese representation at this thirteenth session. If a more realistic and enlightened attitude had prevailed, we may have had the opportunity to negotiate here a peaceful settlement of this serious crisis. With the Government of the People's Republic of China seated among us, it might have been possible to duplicate the atmosphere prevailing at the Bandung Conference. But even if We would have had to endure from all sides some rather heated exchanges, this would surely have been a small price to pay in exchange for survival and peace in the world.
62. So far, I have tried to point out the confusion that exists in the West on the question of nationalism and communism, with the resulting explosive repercussions in the Middle East and the Far East. In my own country, too, this inability to distinguish between these two quite different forces threatens to embroil 'the world in conflict. And while this magic link between nationalism and communism is being unscrupulously or unwittingly forged by some to attain particular ends, the so-called free world is being eroded by self-deception.
63. To us, a free world cannot mean a community of nations in which one of its prominent members is fighting a war in Algeria to deny freedom to the people of that unhappy, long-suffering country. When we think of a free world, it is a world of live and let live, a world in which no nation will be denied its freedom and independence. It is also a world in which there would be no war in Algeria, no colonial domination in West Irian, no bloodshed in Cyprus, no bombings in Oman and Yemen. In short, a world where free nations live together in peaceful co existence.
64. In this connexion, I take pride in announcing from this rostrum that my Government, on 27 September 1958, extended recognition to the Algerian Provisional Government proclaimed in Cairo. It is my Government's conviction that the United Nations Charter and the ten principles of the Bandung Conference provide ample room for Algeria and France to change their past colonial relations into cordial relations between two independent countries.
65. In all these questions that rend the community of nations, we observe the urgent need for a reappraisal and re-examination of policies vis-a-vis Asia and Africa before it is too late. We do not say this sanctimoniously or with any feelings of satisfaction. On the contrary, we make this appeal humbly and with a great deal of regret.
66. We do not and cannot claim to have the answer for this dilemma. We can only suggest once again that the approach to Asia and Africa should be one of encouraging and allowing these nations to develop independent policies, divorced from the tumult of the cold war. This is not a new idea nor one that we claim as our very own. My delegation was indeed pleased to hear a representative from Western Europe, the Foreign Minister of Ireland, so clearly enunciate [751st meeting] a solution to current international tensions in terms which we have advocated for so long. In short, Mr. Aiken proposed — hand-in-hand with promoting great-Power co-operation along political, economic and cultural lines — that the great Powers create ever-widening areas in which the contest for the adherence of the smaller States will be brought to an end, while the smaller States, in turn, co-operate by declaring neutrality which the great Powers and the United Nations should guarantee. We think that this idea should receive immediate and serious attention, not only because we have long subscribed to it, not only because a highly respected Western representative has found considerable merit in it, but also because recent events in Indonesia have borne out the correctness and the advantages for world peace of carrying out an active, independent foreign policy.
67. My country is perhaps the only one in Asia and Africa which has undergone serious difficulties in recent times without causing world-wide repercussions. It is true that there was some outside interference and a threat of cold-war involvement. But, on the basis of our active, independent foreign policy, we successfully averted that threat. At the same time, we overcame by our own efforts the challenge to our national security and unity. For a world seeking peace and stability, this should be an example worthy of attention. It offers, in our opinion, concrete evidence that political situations and tensions need not reach a stage where they threaten to ignite world-wide conflagrations.
68. Another hopeful sign in these troubled times is the fact that, albeit cautiously, steps are being taken in the field of disarmament to isolate certain problems from political controversies and to treat them purely from a scientific angle. We trust that the encouraging results at Geneva this summer of the Conference of Experts to Study the Possibility of Detecting Violations of a Possible Agreement on the Suspension of Nuclear Tests will bear further fruit at the Geneva talks scheduled for the end of October of this year. We also would like to see — as already suggested by the Secretary-General — a further extension of this objective, non-political approach to other problems relating to disarmament and International security. Some aspects of the question of the peaceful t.se of outer space might possibly be dealt with in this manner.
69. Certainly intensified and concerted efforts must be made to halt the race towards mutual annihilation. After these many years, the question of disarmament not only still remains as the foremost item on our agenda, but al each session the world appears weighted down with more costly and complex military hardware, offering dire prospects for future survival. It is, however, not only a question of the terrible risk we run in piling up these military arsenals, which may be triggered off — even by accident — in a chain reaction ending in disaster. But should we avoid this, the enormous cost of modern military weapons and installations still condemns the greater part of the world's population to live at the lowest possible level of existence, increasing the danger to peace caused by mass poverty and want. The armaments race means for us of the less developed countries nothing less than a situation in which we are denied funds necessary for promoting the welfare of our people so that those funds may be used instead for building instruments of mass destruction. And to make it even worse, this situation is contributing at the same time to the ever widening gap between the so-called "have" and "have- not" countries.
70. It is, therefore, with gratification that we note on our agenda the item proposed by the Soviet Union [A/3925], entitled "The reduction of the military budgets of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and France by 10 to 15 per cent and the use of part of the savings so effected for assistance to the under-developed countries" — an idea long advocated by Indonesia and other Asian-African countries. If the great Powers, as a result of the efforts of this Assembly, can reach an agreement on this matter, we will have made a substantial advance in our endeavours to ameliorate the desperate need for raising the living standards in the less developed countries.
71. But allow us to make the suggestion that, in using such savings to assist less developed countries, the great Bowers concerned refrain from doing so in a way which has too much the appearance of a competition to achieve cold-war ends. Instead, we would humbly suggest that the assistance be channelled through the United Nations, thereby divorcing it from the cold-war atmosphere.
72. As to the record of United Nations activities in the past year with respect to the Important question of promoting the economic development of the less developed countries, we view with satisfaction the establishment of the Special Fund. Although still regretting the indefinite postponement of the Special United Nations Fund for Economic Development (SUNFED), my delegation fervently hopes that the Special Fund will make possible a significant expansion in the technical assistance and development programmes of the United Nations in the less developed countries.
73. Another welcome step is the reorganization of the Commission on International Commodity Trade, thus enabling this body to make more concrete contributions to the solution of international commodity problems. The urgency of achieving greater stability in the commodity markets is now generally recognized as the outstanding prerequisite for ensuring economic growth in the less developed countries. How acute this problem is for a country such as Indonesia, which is Still largely dependent upon a relatively few primary commodities, already becomes apparent from one example, namely, the severe fluctuations in the price of rubber. This commodity accounts for about 46 per cent of Indonesia's exports. The price went down by 15 per cent in the first quarter of 1958 as compared with the price a year earlier. What this means for my country in loss of foreign exchange earnings often exceeds by far the economic assistance from international and bilateral sources.
74. We are aware, of course, that the continuous fall in the price of rubber and other raw materials reflects to a great extent the recession which, though it may be showing signs of recovery in the industrial countries, will probably be felt for some time still in the less developed countries. However, it is also true that the short-term fluctuations in a time of economic prosperity, though less severe than during a recession, create profound repercussions in the raw material producing countries. It thus behooves the industrial countries to shape their national economic policies in accordance with their International responsibilities and the United Nations efforts to promote balanced economic growth in the world.
75. After all, it should be our common aim as regards the economic development of the less developed countries to make these countries economically less dependent. This will be impossible, of course, so long as economic assistance is undermined by instability in the commodity markets, with the consequence that the less developed countries of the world remain as economically dependent as before. The situation is obviously made worse when action is taken resulting in a certain commodity overflowing the market. In the case of tin, this economic phenomenon is currently creating grave economic difficulties in tin-producing countries, including my own.
76. In this connexion, may I call the attention of this Assembly to the fact that only a few months ago the International Tin Council reduced the export quota of all its members by about 20 per cent. Assuming that tin prices remain on the same level, this reduction of the export quota would mean a decrease in the same proportion in the foreign exchange earning of the producing countries from their export of tin.
77. In the meantime, the Soviet Union has offered abnormally great quantities of tin to the European market. In the first nine months of this year, the Soviet Union has sold approximately 18,000 long tons of tin to the London market. This about equals the total annual export quota allotted to countries like Bolivia and Indonesia. Ab a consequence of such abnormal competition, the price of tin dropped by no less than 12 per cent a few weeks ago. This means another loss of foreign exchange for the producing countries.
78. Following the representation made by my Government to the Government of the Soviet Union, and the subsequent assurances given by the Soviet Government that it is prepared to reduce its exports o! tin, tin prices have partially recovered. However, the tin market remains weak.
79. It is well to bear in mind that only the less developed countries are hit by the impact of the present situation in the tin market — the very countries to which the big Powers, including the Soviet Union, wish to extend economic aid. I therefore earnestly hope that the Soviet Government will reduce its export of tin to a sufficient extent so as to remove the present pressure on the tin market, to the satisfaction of the tin-producing countries, including my own.
80. The Indonesian delegation will make every effort at this session of the General Assembly to encourage maximum co-operation between the industrial countries and the less developed countries in the interest of exploiting to the fullest the vast potentialities in the world for promoting social and economic welfare.
81. Allow me to make some brief observations now regarding political events in Indonesia which have drawn the attention of the community of nations. We know that there exists some anxiety in the world about developments concerning democratic institutions in my country. There is much misunderstanding about our democracy with guidance, which has been wrongly translated in the West as "guided democracy". I can assure, this Assembly that our guidance is not being imposed; there is no dictatorship in Indonesia. This guidance comes from a National Council in the form of advice to our Cabinet, which is responsible to a freely elected Parliament. Democracy is still at work, and will continue to work, in Indonesia.
82. The latest developments in Asia and Africa, however, prove that the application of democracy in those continents along the Western pattern cannot be taken for granted. I can only emphasize that what Indonesia is doing now constitutes a bold endeavour to save democracy by adapting it to Indonesian usages and abilities. It should indeed be no more suspect than similar efforts made, by other countries of Asia and Africa, and even by a major Western country, France, where democracy has a great tradition but where Its present form of parliamentary democracy apparently has reached a dead end.
83. As to Indonesia's most important International problem — the continuing dispute over West Irian — I wish only to say two things. In the first place, I want to stress that the right to self-determination is still being misused by the Netherlands in order to continue its illegal colonial domination over West Irian. Secondly, I want to say that we are carrying out vigorously and efficiently the policy that was announced last year by our Foreign Minister from this very rostrum [700th meeting]: being denied the opportunity to negotiate our differences with the Dutch, we are compelled to take other measures short of war.
84. Finally, I am duty-bound to make some comments in answer to the accusations of the Foreign Minister of the Netherlands, who complained about certain actions taken by my Government. He has described [760th meeting] certain measures recently taken by my Government and has dealt with them entirely out of the context of the dispute over West Irian. But the present relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands must be viewed against the background of this unresolved political dispute in order to be understood. Moreover, we have made it clear, in a note dated 13 January 1958, circulated by our Permanent Mission to the United Nations, that the measures taken by the Indonesian Government are designed to place the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands on a new footing of equality and justice.
85. Without wishing to indulge in repetition, certain remarks made by the representative of the Netherlands merit further comment. He stated that "During the past year nearly 40,000 Netherlanders have been obliged to leave their houses and homes in Indonesia" [760th meeting, para. 381. Actually, the following is the case. The Government of Indonesia, in-the exercise of its general administrative powers, has taken measures affecting unemployed Netherlands subjects. Under these measures, the Government has made available appropriate facilities for returning to their home country about 9,000 unemployed Netherlands subjects. These people lived on financial support given by the Netherlands Diplomatic Mission and by other charitable institutions. It is only logical that these persons be repatriated to the country of which they are citizens. What is to be regretted, however, is that my Government's exercise of its rights in the field of unemployment has been taken up and misused by the Netherlands Government and Press to persuade all Netherlands citizens in Indonesia to leave the country. Indeed, the Netherlands Government urged the immediate mass evacuation of Dutch nationals, although there was no urgency for such a step. This action of the Netherlands Government, resulting in a sudden mass evacuation, can only be interpreted as being aimed at disrupting and crippling the economic, technical and administrative services of my country. In the light of Dutch subversive activities committed against the Indonesian Government, which have been exposed in a well documented official paper, this can be the only correct interpretation. It is certainly not becoming for a Foreign Minister to blame the Republic of Indonesia for the consequences of his own Government's policies and actions.
86. Another point which has been raised and to which I feel obliged to refer is the question of the so-called seizure and taking over of the business enterprises and property of Netherlanders. Again, this point has already been fully explained to Members of the United Nations in our afore-mentioned note. But to reiterate briefly, the measures taken in respect of those business enterprises, and so forth, are regulated according to laws adopted during the period of Netherlands colonial rule. The application of these laws, which are still in force in my country, is fully justified in view of the privileged economic position of the Netherlands in Indonesia, representing old vested colonial interests. Moreover, these measures were, in some instances, necessitated by economic sabotage by certain Dutch enterprises, which were about to remove their assets abroad and which were vital to our economy.
87. An illustrative example is that Dutch ships, serving inter-insular shipping in Indonesia under contract with the Indonesian Government, were ordered by their home office to leave Indonesian waters; this, in effect, would have meant disruption of our entire inter-insular transportation system.
88. Certainly the less developed countries, many of them former colonies, will regard with understanding and sympathy this step taken by Indonesia towards normalizing relations between a former colonizer and a former colony.
89. In its relations with other countries, Indonesia has always honoured its commitments, as is known to members of this Assembly who have relations with us. It may be recalled that at the time of transfer of sovereignty, we were burdened with huge debts incurred by the Netherlands, a considerable part of which it had incurred in waging war against the Republic of Indonesia. These included debts to Canada, Australia and the United States. We have settled our obligation to Canada, while those to Australia and the United States are being paid off. As regards the non-recognition of debts to the Netherlands, the then Indonesian representative to the United Nations, in a note to the United Nations of 23 October 1956, already fully explained Indonesia's position and its justification, repudiating the Dutch arguments. It is therefore not necessary for me to repeat them here.
90. My delegation appreciates fully the vitality of the Netherlands to overcome the harm and loss of profit caused by Indonesia, as stated by the representative of the Netherlands. However, Mr. Luns would have been more truthful if he had disclosed that such vitality has been made possible by more than 300 years of colonization and exploitation, resulting in tremendous wealth for the Netherlands and impoverishment for the Indonesian people. As regards Dutch investments in Indonesia, which according to the representative of the Netherlands amount to $1,250 million, it must be noted that these assets have never been brought to Indonesia from the Netherlands. In their origin, they are Indonesian capital. But my Government has not seized these assets without payment, as contended by the Netherlands Foreign Minister. We have always respected them, and we will continue to respect them if — and I repeat this — if the Dutch Government will learn to respect Indonesian interests as well.
91. The explanation I have just given entirely nullifies the argument of the representative of the Netherlands that measures taken by my Government under. mine the peace and security of the area. Indeed, such an accusation, coming from a Minister for Foreign Affairs — who in his own words has for the seventh time tried to take stock of the world around us — can only he regarded as out of place.
92. What in fact undermines peace and security in this area of the world is the intransigent attitude of the Netherlands Government in trying to perpetuate its colonial domination over West Irian, an integral part of the territory of Indonesia. This illegal action of the Netherlands can certainly not be regarded as an action aimed at maintaining peace and security, for which Mr. Luns professed to have so much concern. Indeed, the latest step taken by the Netherlands Government to increase its military strength in West Irian can only be considered as a step towards increasing tension in that sensitive part of the globe.
93. It was of particular interest to us to hear the Netherlands Foreign Minister quote the words of the Secretary of State of the United States: “… when one régime attempts by force to take additional territory which has long been under the authority of another Government... that is a use of force that endangers world peace" [749Ui meeting, para. 281. It seems indeed strange to hear that quotation from a representative of a country which in fact has by military force obstructed the rightful execution of authority over West Irian by the Indonesian Government.
94. From what I have said, it must be clear to all that the crux of the problem is the still outstanding dispute over West Irian, and that the allegations made against my Government by the representative of the Netherlands can therefore only be appraised in the light of that unsolved colonial issue. That we are today being confronted again with the West Irian problem in this general debate is conclusive proof that this issue cannot be ignored, notwithstanding the fact that the Indonesian Government has not brought it up as an item for inclusion in the agenda of the present session of the General Assembly. We accordingly beg your continued attention to this cause of friction between Indonesia and the Netherlands, which remains explosive in character.
95. I apologize for having taken so much of your time in dealing with the arguments adduced by the representative of the Netherlands, but I trust that you will understand that I was duty-bound to make these comments since my country has been so wrongly attacked and its actions so grossly misrepresented.