224. Telegram From the Embassy in Indonesia to the Department of State1
2566. During courtesy call on Subandrio this morning to congratulate him on becoming Foreign Minister he discussed at some length what his foreign policy would be. Subandrio prefaced his remarks by stating that if present Cabinet did not succeed it would in all probability be last “democratic” Cabinet. If this Cabinet should fail it would be followed either by military or political dictatorship in his opinion.
With above as starting point Subandrio went on to say that chief job of new Cabinet was to preserve and strengthen democracy in Indonesia. As regards foreign policy this means less academic policy than in past. While continuing “independent active” policy of his predecessor, Subandrio believes much more attention must be paid to economic and practical aspects of policy which can be demonstrated to mass of people as contributing to advancement of their living standard. This meant he would wish to know more about US aid programs and that he would favor continuance and perhaps an increase in technical assistance and exchange of persons programs. Subandrio also said he favored spreading aid programs out from Djakarta to surrounding areas and provinces. In his opinion problem in provinces is primarily economic and only secondarily political. If present govt can convince people throughout Indonesia that it is interested in their welfare and is taking concrete steps to raise standard of living of all, not just Javanese, Subandrio thinks Communist problem will not arise in acute form. Insofar as possible his foreign policy will be dedicated to that end.
Subandrio gave every evidence of being sincere in his statements and I believe he genuinely wants to work closely with US.
However, as is true of [garble—many?] govt leaders here his approach to Communist problem is often naive. Nevertheless, until such time as it proves impossible to do so, I believe we should cooperate with him on his economic approach to foreign policy.
- Source: Department of State, Central Files, 756D.00/4–1557. Confidential.↩