The NL. won a quick, clean-cut victory in Asia. The Western powers responded confused. Independence was failing in more places and Indonesia could also follow that pattern.

About the year 1560, the people living near Jogjakarta in Java found a strange creature on the beach. It looked like a man, except that it was white. They chained it to a big square stone outside of town where all could watch and laugh at its antics. They called…

Last week, for the third time since World War II ended, there was war in Indonesia between The Netherlands troops and native nationalists.

Last week, for the third time since World War II ended, there was war in Indonesia between The Netherlands troops and native nationalists. The Dutch started it. As they had before, they called it “police action”—a necessary step which, they said, they had been “regretfully obliged” to take…

If the fall of China meant a Communist Far East (as European statesmen assumed that it ultimately would) then Marshall Plan dollars would not be able to help Europe much.

“You never hear the one that hits you,” the soldiers say. This observation, both comforting and terrifying, applies also to the great nations and civilizations now on history’s casualty lists. When disaster comes they are looking the other way, or else they are certain that the disaster does not matter…

To undermine Marshall Plan recovery in Europe, International Communism tries to tear Southeast Asia to pieces.

From Madiun to Syriam, from Malacca to Mandalay, the banging and chattering of hand grenades, rifles and automatic weapons punctuated day & night last week. International Communism was trying to tear Southeast Asia to pieces.

The long-range Communist plan, laid down in 1920, is to create Communist governments in all…

The effect of the U.N. truce agreement between the Dutch and the Indonesian Republic is working out slowly. The Dutch were accused of stalling to avoid any kind of settlement.

To set against its long list of futile endeavors, the United Nations could point to a few modest successes. One was the truce agreement between the Dutch and the Indonesian Republic. Last week that small star in U.N.’s crown was fading fast.

Stalemate. The hitch did not result from lack…

The UN Secrutity Council voted (8-0) a stern resolution: the Council “calls upon” The Netherlands and the Indonesian Republic “to cease hostilities forthwith.”

The Indonesian mess was almost providential in its timing. Joyfully, the Security Council dropped the Greek situation to cope with a situation cut more to the U.N. size. With unprecedented speed the Council voted (8-0) a stern resolution: the Council “calls upon” The Netherlands and the Indonesian Republic “to cease…

Because of the violations the truce and agreement between The Netherlands Government and Rep. of Indonesia, the Dutch struck, plunging into a war of white men against brown men.

At midnight the Dutch struck. Troops seized the radio, the cable office, and Republican government buildings in Batavia, seat of the Dutch administration in Java. Next day, Dutch planes struck at the Republic’s weak air force (about 40 old Japanese planes), which they caught on the ground. With artillery preparation,…

For the first time in five years Batavia echoed to the burst of festive fireworks rather than lethal gunfire. The occasion was the signing of a long-delayed agreement (TIME, Dec. 23).

Mercurial President Soekarno was too preoccupied to comment. He was busy discussing his favorite hobby—painting—with a visiting artist. But elsewhere in Java last week Indonesians were delirious with joy. After 19 long months of bloody warfare, at least a measure of peace and independence had come to Indonesia…

By last week it was clearly too late in Indonesia for restoration of full Dutch imperial rule and too early for a stable native government. A report on the current socio/economic/political status.

What time is it in Indonesia? Last week the public clocks which the punctual Dutch had placed along Batavia’s sweltering, mosquito-infested streets did not say; nobody had wound them. Nobody collected electric bills, because the electrical engineers are Dutch and the company accountants Indonesian; they could not decide who should…

The United States of Indonesia, conceived as an equal partner with The Netherlands under the House of Orange, was born in Batavia last week.

The United States of Indonesia, conceived as an equal partner with The Netherlands under the House of Orange, was born in Batavia last week. Dutch and Indonesian representatives initialed a draft agreement providing for a three-way division of The Netherlands East Indies: first, the Indonesian Republic, comprising the islands of …

Van Mook exchanged toasts in Batavia last week with the “Prime Minister” of the rebel Indonesian Republic celebrating the signing of a truce designed to eventually to halt hostilities.

Dr. Hubertus J. Van Mook, Acting Governor General of The Netherlands Indies, exchanged toasts in Batavia last week with the “Prime Minister” of the rebel Indonesian Republic, though Dutch officers still walked out of British parties whenever Republican Army leaders appeared. The civilian amenities held more significance than the military…

Indonesian peacemaking excursion: the stubborn Dutch and fanatic Indonesians had found a middle ground. Indonesia would become an autonomous partner under the Dutch crown.

Britain’s diplomatic cleanup man had another vanquished crisis under his belt. Beaming baronially as he deplaned in Amsterdam last week after an 8,900-mile flight from Batavia, hump-nosed, ruddy Lord Inverchapel (Sir Archibald Clark Kerr in his pre-peerage days) gave a thumbnail report on his Indonesian peacemaking excursion. The Indonesians, he…

The formal surrender of the Japanese garrison on Bali happened last week. But only 300 Balinese solemnly watched the surrender.

The formal surrender of the Japanese garrison on Bali last week was one of those ceremonies the British always carry off so well.

His Majesty’s Major General Eric Mansergh had flown into Den Pasar from his Surabaya headquarters. The Netherlands’ towheaded Colonel Fritz ter Meulen had arrived with his two-battalion…

After four years of defeat, imprisonment and abuse, the Dutch in Indonesia are morose, sullen and apparently unable to cope with the vigorous native independence movement.

TIME Correspondent Robert Sherrod witnessed the faces of men fighting and dying on New Guinea, Attu, Saipan, Tarawa, Iwo and Okinawa. Last week he beheld what he described as “the most tragic face I have seen in the war.” The place was Batavia’s Koningsplein Railway Station. The face was that…

Determined Dr. Van Mook had pressed for a semi-autonomous Indonesia. World opinion will not stand for the use of force by the Dutch, said a British spokesman.

A brooding quiet settled over Indonesia. It was the quiet of a faintly smoking volcano. Here & there snipers’ rifles cracked. But mostly the British and Dutch sat waiting behind their guns in strongholds of European authority like Batavia, Surabaya, Semarang, Bandung. Beyond these cities, in the rich hinterland of…