African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1262 Encourage
Freer's words were naturally influenced by Ernst's suggestion. East Africa did not want a regional superpower like Indonesia in the past to emerge in the South Pacific region in the future.

In the past, Indonesia had a land area of ​​nearly two million square kilometers and a population of nearly 300 million. It also controlled or influenced many important straits and shipping routes in the world, including the Strait of Malacca. It also had almost no shortcomings in resources, including oil, coal, iron ore, copper ore, bauxite, etc., and the reserves were abundant.

If such a country with the potential to become a great power emerges, it will be very unfavorable for East Africa's future control over the South Pacific region.

Although East Africa cut off the land of former Indonesia on the island of Kalimantan, this was obviously not safe, so Freer proposed to Prime Minister Kuyper to separate the two sides of the Sunda Strait from the East Indies colony.

Freer said: "Your country can set up a special zone in the Sunda Strait and return the local financial, military and other powers to the Dutch government."

"We in East Africa are also happy for your country to strengthen its differentiated rule over the East Indies, but we are not optimistic about the current series of Dutch colonial policies in the East Indies."

"The construction of the Sunda Strait Special Economic Zone is a good opportunity. Since both sides of the strait have not yet been developed, if your country separates this area from the East Indies colony, it will not encounter much resistance from the locals."

"At the same time, foreign populations such as the Far Eastern Empire, Siamese, and Vietnamese were introduced to completely isolate this place from the widely distributed Arab population in the East Indies..."

Prime Minister Kuyper listened carefully to Freer's series of suggestions.

After all, for Prime Minister Kuyper, although East Africa's colonial history is short, its capabilities are definitely impressive, otherwise it would not have been possible to become one of the few colonial powers in the world in just a few decades.

Although East Africa's overseas colonies are not of high value, such a large area also shows that East Africa has some unique secrets.

Freer went on to say: "I think your Excellency should have noticed that since the end of the last century, there has been a wave of awakening of national consciousness in backward regions and countries around the world."

"The independence consciousness in these regions is awakening and erupting. Unless extreme measures are taken, the situation will only intensify. The East Indies is too far away from your country, so you'd better make plans early."

"At present, the major European powers are busy with wars, which provides an opportunity for the Netherlands to regulate its colonies in the East Indies. This also means that external interference factors are greatly reduced."

"We in East Africa do not want a powerful regional regime to rise in the South Seas, so we hope that the Netherlands can complete the reorganization of the East Indies during this period of time."

Prime Minister Kuyper was not offended by Freer's blunt words. After all, a unified East Indies was not what he wanted to see.

He said: "In fact, our government has similar ideas, but it is not easy to implement. The situation in the East Indies is too complicated, and our strength is not as strong as yours. It is difficult to force various policies there."

Freer disagreed with Kuyper's view. He said: "We all know the history of the East Indies colonies. Originally, this region was forcibly integrated by colonial activities."

"You should know that before your country colonized the East Indies, the entire East Indies was not a monolithic entity, but rather consisted of many countries."

"But your colonial activities have actually helped to promote the integration of the local ethnic groups, such as a unified army, a unified administrative agency, and unified laws..."

"While these made it easier for your country to rule the Dutch East Indies, they also laid the seeds for future troubles. In the East Indies, there was even a unified ethnic concept called the Indonesians."

"This is very dangerous. They identify themselves with the East Indies, and the Arab religious forces in the area are dominant. At the same time, the mixing of different ethnic groups has also contributed to the formation of this unified national consciousness."

Following Freer's provocation, Kuyper's face turned grim.

"Mr. Freer, from what you said, it seems that a series of policies of our Dutch government have led to the collusion of the people of the East Indies. But as far as I know, the policies implemented by your colonies are similar to ours!" Freer did not deny it. He said to Prime Minister Kuyper: "That's right, but our East African positioning of overseas colonies is completely different from yours."

"We treat the people of our overseas colonies as our own people and give them corresponding respect. But can your country not have such prejudice against Indonesians and mix with such a large number of pagans?"

Kuyper asked with a strange look on his face: "Your Excellency, you must be aware of what you are doing in East Kalimantan! Not only East Kalimantan, but also your Lan Fang Overseas Province and Mindanao. We are very clear about your series of policies."

Then, he lowered his voice and leaned to Freer, "Does that simple and brutal massacre count as treating the locals as equals?"

No one knows better than the Dutch what East Africa is like, especially what it did in the Southeast Asian region, which was a planned "genocide".

In other words, East Africa is a world power, so generally no country dares to directly accuse East Africa.

Therefore, what Freer referred to as "their own people" was extremely ironic in Prime Minister Kuyper's view. If the large-scale massacre of the indigenous people was considered "their own people", then the Indonesians and the Dutch under Dutch rule were simply "relatives".

After all, the Dutch did not engage in genocide in the East Indies as blatantly as they did in East Africa.

Freer said calmly: "The people we are talking about naturally do not include those stubborn elements and pagans, but new immigrants who are willing to coexist peacefully with East Africa."

"These new immigrants are made up of a population willing to be Germanized and receive a full German education. In the future, they will be almost indistinguishable from the East African population."

"And your country is still not decisive enough in the East Indies. If I were you, I would either actively suppress the indigenous and religious forces and promote your own culture, or simply make it impossible for them to ever become a country. In the end, even if they become independent, they will not pose a threat to the mother country."

"The East Indies is a large group of islands that are actually beneficial to your country's operations, but you have forcibly integrated them into a whole, which is tantamount to digging your own grave."

“So unlike our East Africa, your country should implement a completely different colonial strategy in the colonies than our East Africa, so as to continue your country’s colonial activities in the local area.”

"Especially by separating some special areas in the area, so as to ensure that more interests can be retained even after the East Indies become independent."

Freer made no secret of the "crimes" in East Africa, was not ashamed of these crimes, and even persuaded Prime Minister Kuyper.

This made Prime Minister Kuyper greatly admire the shamelessness of the East Africans, but Freer's words also gave Kuyper a lot of inspiration.

At this time, European countries were busy with wars, and East Africa supported the Netherlands in taking some extreme measures in the East Indies to split up the East Indies. This was indeed an opportunity for the Netherlands.

Kuyper was not worried that East Africans had ulterior motives, or even if East Africans really had evil intentions, the Netherlands could not stop any action taken by East Africans.

After all, if East Africa really wanted to take over the entire East Indies, it would be easy. If the East Africans really intended to do so, the Dutch East Indies colony would have changed its flag long ago.

Therefore, Prime Minister Kuyper did not believe that East Africa had any intentions towards the Dutch East Indies. At least at this stage, East Africa certainly had no such intention.

So Prime Minister Kuyper thought for a moment and said to Freer, "I will seriously consider your suggestion. After a while, our two governments will find an opportunity to discuss it in detail."

(End of this chapter)