African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1257 Donghe Negotiation

At two o'clock in the afternoon, the East African ship officially docked at the port of The Hague, and people from the East African Embassy in The Hague arrived at the dock area in advance to welcome Baron Freer.

"Your Excellency, Welcome to The Hague. I wonder what kind of work you need us to do now that you are here in person," the Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands said respectfully.

Freer is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of East Africa, and the immediate superior of East African diplomats stationed in the Netherlands, so it is impossible for Freer not to be taken seriously.

Freer said, "Antara, I am here on behalf of the Imperial Government to discuss some sensitive issues with the Dutch Government, which are related to the territorial issues in the South Seas. Please first disclose some information to the Dutch Government and arrange a meeting between me and the Prime Minister of the Netherlands."

Freer was not in a hurry to negotiate with the Dutch government because he believed that the Netherlands would definitely take over East Africa, unless the European war suddenly ended at this time and the world order was restored. However, this was obviously impossible, so Freer had the patience to discuss territorial issues with the Dutch.

Two days later, at the Dutch Prime Minister's residence.

Prime Minister Kuyper looked at the "evil guest" in front of him with embarrassment and said helplessly: "Mr. Freer, this time you have reached out to the Netherlands again, which is a bit too ugly!"

You have to know that the Netherlands has just sold East Kalimantan to East Africa and is once again making territorial claims in East Africa. It would be strange if Kuyper was in a good mood.

Freer smiled and said to Kuyper, "Don't worry, Prime Minister. We in East Africa naturally have no grudges against the Netherlands. The two countries have always maintained friendly relations."

"Take the last East Kalimantan deal for example. We showed your sincerity, acquired the East Kalimantan region at a premium, and shared some of the profits. So in the last deal, your country not only did not suffer a loss, but made a lot of money."

"After all, if your country develops the East Kalimantan area, it will take who knows when to get your money back. We are helping you to relieve a burden."

Kuyper naturally didn't buy it. He said, "If possible, we would rather not do this kind of deal. After all, East Kalimantan is a long-term interest. Your country paid a sum of money to buy out the future of the entire East Kalimantan. We, the Netherlands, are obviously the loser."

Freer said, "Haha, that's hard to say. After all, the British are to the north of East Kalimantan. If you really discovered some resources in East Kalimantan before, do you really think you can keep them, Prime Minister?"

"Not to mention my country and the United Kingdom, the United States and France are also quite powerful in the Nanyang region, especially the United States, a new player in the region. I think all these may cause uncertainty to your country's interests in the Nanyang region."

“So, it is in our best interest to hand East Kalimantan over to our country. If it were other countries, I’m afraid they would just take action.”

Kuyper sneered in his heart. Freer had the nerve to say that the Americans were new players. East Africa entered the South Pacific region only a dozen years earlier than the Americans.

Looking at other colonial powers in Southeast Asia, they have all been here for almost a hundred years, especially old players like the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.

Of course, Kuyper couldn't make fun of these words in front of Freer. He said: "Even if you are right, East Kalimantan was a fair deal last time, but we in the Netherlands have no intention of selling territory this time."

Both of them hold their own opinions, but both have some truth. From the perspective of East Africa, East Africa treated the Netherlands "with courtesy". After all, East Africa could have robbed openly, but it still came to negotiate with the Netherlands.

"Don't be too quick to refuse, Prime Minister," said Freer. "I know that the East Indies is your country's core interest."

"Our demands on your country this time will not be excessive, but out of helplessness due to national defense strategy, we have to ask your country for help. Of course, don't worry, we only need some insignificant things for your country."

As he spoke, Freer pulled out a map book from his briefcase. It was a map book of the Dutch East Indies colonies.

The atlas can be said to be very detailed, with the densely packed islands and their names clearly marked.

Looking at this atlas, Dutch Prime Minister Kuyper's heart was alarmed. But Freer calmly turned the first page and said to Kuyper: "Please look, sir, this is a map of the South China Sea. The dotted line on it is the current route map of the South China Sea region."

"This is the Strait of Malacca, and the easternmost section of the Strait of Malacca is the Singapore Strait, which is also the most important waterway for trade between the East and the West."

“And the Singapore Strait is firmly controlled by the British, which is obviously not conducive to the security of the empire and the trade in the East for us in East Africa.”

"Apart from the Strait of Malacca, the alternative routes almost all pass through your East Indies colony, including the Sunda Strait, the Lombok Strait, etc. At the same time, your country also controls some islands of great strategic value, such as..."

Seeing that Freer was about to continue talking, Kuyper hurriedly stopped him and said, "Well, Mr. Freer, I am naturally very familiar with the situation in the South Seas, and I don't need your introduction."

"But the Strait of Malacca is controlled by the British, so you can negotiate with the British. Why do you want to focus on our small country, the Netherlands? We have to pay a heavy price to maintain the stability of the East Indies. We cannot damage our own interests for the so-called security of your country."

In Kuyper's opinion, the East Africans were aiming for the Sunda Strait. After all, it is a sea route second only to the Strait of Malacca.

If you want to control a strait, you obviously have to control the land on both sides of the strait, but these lands are the essence of the Netherlands, so Kuyper does not want to give in.

Freer comforted him, "Don't worry, Prime Minister. We know the importance of this matter and will not joke with your country's interests."

"We just want to gain some 'insignificant' areas of your country to ensure the smooth flow of our trade channels. We will never make it difficult for you."

Freer did not keep the secret and said directly: "For colonies like Sumatra and Java, which are of great importance to your country, we naturally respect your country's interests in the local area."

"What our country wants are just some islands, such as Sangiang Island in the middle of the Sunda Strait, Panaytan Island in the west, and Belitung Island in the east..."

Freer named nearly a dozen islands before stopping.

It seems like a lot, but you have to know that there are tens of thousands of islands in the East Indies, and more than a dozen islands are just a drop in the bucket.

Moreover, the islands named in East Africa are not very large in area. The largest one is Belitung Island, which is only 4,000 square kilometers.

Of course, a 4,000-kilometer island may not be small for a small country like the Netherlands, but on the map, it is only the size of a pea.

The corner of Keppel's mouth twitched, and he was so angry that if he didn't know, he would think you were here to buy goods! Although these islands have little economic value, many of them don't even have people, and some islands are only a few square kilometers.

However, they all have one obvious characteristic, that is, they have a good strategic position. For example, Sangiang Island, although its area is less than ten square kilometers, has no population on the island, only a large rainforest.

But this island is located right in the middle of the Sunda Strait, but Kuyper doesn't know what the significance of the East Africans taking this island is.

After all, there is no output on this island, and it can basically only rely on external transportation, and the area limits its construction conditions. On the contrary, Belitung Island is relatively large and can accommodate some population.

However, Kuyper also noticed that East Africa had obviously made plans for the Netherlands, otherwise they should have asked the Netherlands for Bangka Island next to Belitung Island. Bangka Island is much larger than Belitung Island and has richer population resources.

(End of this chapter)