Chapter 469 – Colonial State Enterprise

“Sir Norman!” The atmosphere of the entire conference room choked as everyone stood up and simultaneously greeted Norman Brooke, who had walked in, as if he was ready to offer his supreme authority, in a shockingly neat manner.

Norman Brooke nodded his head with an almost imperceptible amplitude and extended one finger to point to the seat next to his own, “Alan is seated here, gentlemen, please be seated.”

Norman Brooke took his seat with a flourish, while Alan Wilson took a small step and made it to Norman Brooke’s left, with Sir Ismay, the Permanent Undersecretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs, on his right.

“Ireland has announced its withdrawal from the Commonwealth and, unsurprisingly, as the procedures and processes work out, within six months London will have endorsed the decision. The matter of Ireland has passed, but a lot of things are still in the middle of happening, regarding the future of the British Empire, we are duty-bound, not to mention that you are the commissioners of the Foreign Office, we have to come up with a feasible way to deal with the current tumultuous situation.” Norman Brooke finished his opening speech word for word and then said, “In terms of the general situation, the current threat to the overseas territories, where it stems from, where the territories are most likely to be shaken, and so on, are all questions that need to be brought to a conclusion, so the meeting will now begin.”

Sir Ismay then spoke, “The current overseas territories are concentrated in Africa and Asia, with Africa being a much larger area and Malaya in Asia being a much more important location, and in terms of the big picture, Malaya is more likely to face threats from enemies …… or allies.”

“I recognize very much what Sir Ismay said, let me introduce the situation in Malaya.” Gerard Edward immediately spoke, “Currently Malaya is still quite calm, since the war is not yet over, Malaya’s main job is to bring the population balance of the two communities closer, to avoid a repeat of the situation in British India, with the addition of new immigrants, and alone, in terms of Malaya’s current community comparison, the two communities can be considered to be evenly matched, with a very close population. ”

Gerard Edward’s words made Norman Brooke and Ismay nod their heads, while Alan Wilson spoke up and asked, “If we look at it by static standards, this work can be said to be completed, but if we consider the situation around us, this is still not enough, has the population of Dutch Kalimantan been calculated?”

“That has not been calculated, but of course it is true that the current situation cannot be said to be stable, taking into account Java and Sumatra.” Gerard Edward mused, “Alan’s reminder is very good.”

“The current country that can threaten the overseas territories is not the tank army that is on the surface, but a country whose tonnage is still above the Royal Navy. Malaya is very much in the thick of it with its chokehold on the Golden Waterway and its own accumulation of resources.” Norman Brooke frowned, “Good use of the surrounding situation, think of something on the diplomatic front and present news on that.”

“The carrier battleship formation base of the Royal Dutch Navy, has been transferred to Kalimantan Island, as for the most remote Dutch Guinea, the Dutch side has signed a mutual assistance treaty with Australia. The third party to this treaty is us, Britain, though we are in the dark. The Australian side is very pleased with this treaty. The Canberra side is eager to help the Netherlands to stabilize its position in New Guinea.” Gerard Edward spoke up immediately, “The Dutch side is ready for Java to get out of hand, following the example of the partition of India and Pakistan by cutting off Kalimantan and Dutch Guinea, which has the cooperation of us and the Australian side.”

“Before I returned, the Netherlands launched its second Operation Police, which resulted in the capture of Yogyakarta, the capital of the Republic of Indonesia, and the capture of Sukarno, Hatta, and other Indonesian leaders by the Dutch, greatly reducing the size and population of the Republic of Indonesia. The Indonesian army once again retreated into the mountains and persisted in a guerrilla war, and established guerrilla administrative districts throughout the country. The Dutch expatriates have all been evacuated to Kalimantan.”

“It can’t be delayed any longer, the United States has begun to pay attention to Dutch East India at the United Nations.” Norman Brooke turned to Ismay’s side of the table and asked, “Is the information in Alexander’s telegram true?”

Seeing Ismay’s nod, Norman Brooke immediately said, “Telegraph Rotterdam to immediately announce the declaration of partition in Dutch East India, and we will immediately join with Australia to announce the recognition of partition. Alan what do you think?”

Alan Wilson thought back to the point in time when Indonesia appeared, about the time the Cannon Party was about to get on its knees, and spoke up, “That’s right, once we wait until the Americans actually apply pressure, it will be too late to do anything about it. The police operation is futile and must be terminated immediately, along with the evacuation of Belgian and Spanish troops to Kalimantan. With the Royal Dutch Navy and the Royal Navy’s Pacific Fleet, it is perfectly possible to withdraw quickly.”

“On the UN side, let Alexander do some work and unite with the French representatives to cause some procedural impediments.” Norman Brooke clapped his hands, “That’s settled, I’ll see the Prime Minister after the meeting is adjourned.”

“Gentlemen, as just concluded, the current threat to the Overseas Territories is that dubious ally.” Alan Wilson said slowly, “Once Dutch East India collapses, Malaya will bear the brunt. Right now the best we can hope for is that the French hold out a little longer in Vietnam, I wonder how things are going in France in Vietnam.”

“So far so good!” Gerard Edward, as the Malayan administrator, still had a good idea about the French war effort.

“The French don’t have much problem cleaning up the Vietnamese, but we have to consider the extra-territorial factor. In the current Chinese civil war, the balance is moving in the direction of pro-Soviet forces. Once the Chinese game is in the bag, it’s hard to guarantee that the French will still have it as easy as they do now, switch to Malaya, if we can’t we’ll threaten Java with our navy, then again, is there any captains in the Pacific Fleet who are about to be retired, let’s take an action to show solidarity with the Netherlands, like shell Jakarta or something, and we’ll also be able to show the unity of the Brussels Pact Organization. ”

Alan Wilson spoke up in front of the group of Colonial Commissioners, “There are times when there is some moral price to pay.”

Norman Brooke picked up a glass of water unperturbed, the knot in his throat surging, “For the safety of British Malaya we certainly can’t let Holland just walk away, there’s no doubt that France and Holland are the protective layer of Malaya, but shelling Jakarta on that? Just do it another way, use the bombers.”

“Yes, Sir Norman!” All the Colonial Commissioners agreed in unison.

“Speaking of which, Indonesia, because of its similar environment to Malaya, actually has quite a bit of overlap in its produce, so I’d personally suggest burning down the rubber plantations, blowing up the power plants, and tearing up the railroads altogether. Let the Netherlands use this as a way to negotiate terms with the leaders of the Indonesian independence movement, which would buy time for evacuation. Destroy all that, and the world’s need for those resources remains, and that becomes an opportunity for British Malaya, doesn’t it?”

“Very well!” Norman Brooke instructed, turning to Ismay, “I would like to have a chance meeting with the Dutch ambassador.”

“Such a small place as London, after all.” Ismay said knowingly, “Fate is just so wonderful.”

“With the presence of the French and the Dutch, Malaya is actually much better off than British India.” Sir Barron said with great relief, “The French are in Vietnam, unlike in French India where they never returned, but unfortunately British India does not have this environment.”

Although Sir Barron was in the Persian Gulf, he still expressed concern for the place where he had lived and fought before, and in 1948, France and India reached an agreement on the future of French India’s belonging to be voted on by the people of all parts of French India in a referendum.

In effect France had let go of French India, and the only remaining power still in the subcontinent was Portugal, the weakest of the colonial powers.

“Want Malaya to be solid, the most important thing is still to make Malaya a strong complement to the mainland, rather than a mere colony, after solving the basic security problem, the next step is to consider the development problem. In terms of science and technology, the British Empire is not inferior to the United States and the Soviet Union, but our native population is insufficient to be converted into a national strength to manifest. We can’t produce three times as much goods per capita as the U.S. and the USSR with a homegrown population of 50 million, can we?”

“If Malaya can assume the role of British India in the beginning, we can only say that we will not compromise with these two countries. Solely with what remains of the colony in hand at the moment, it would still be able to hold up a colonial development.”

“But Malaya doesn’t have a large population, there isn’t a market as big as the subcontinent.” Ismay frowned.

“Honorable Sir Ismay, I am not talking about a market, we have a market, what is lacking is a production base.” Alan Wilson shook his head slightly and said, “We all know that the textile industry is the industry that can best solve the employment problem, but technology is advancing, the textile industry is nothing added value, and we can’t be on par with the USSR by buying clothes. After two world wars, technology has advanced greatly, new industries have emerged, and some backward industries should be shifted.”

“This place being shifted has to be reliable.” Norman Brooke frowned, “All of the commissioners here can talk about whether or not you can support a production base.”

The commissioners of the Gold Coast, Sudan, Togo, and Rhodesia all spoke up, mentioning the resources of their jurisdictions and whether or not they could support the transformation of Malaya into a production base.

“I have an idea, I don’t know if it’s appropriate, it’s just a personal idea of mine.” Alan Wilson listened to the commissioners from all over the world speak freely, and spoke up in embarrassment.

“Anything you have to say, you can say it in this meeting.” Norman Brooke’s words sort of set the tone.

“Why can’t we set up nationalized enterprises in the colonies?” Alan Wilson’s eyes dripped and swept over the face of every colonial commissioner, “Especially on mineral resources, the gentlemen who are doing it can double as managers of the enterprises at the same time.”