INDONESIA: Refreshing Change

In its six years of independence, the Republic of Indonesia has seldom had a good word to say about the U.S. This is the more remarkable since the U.S. is largely responsible for the existence of the republic, having helped liberate Indonesia from the Japanese in World War II and encouraged its break from Dutch colonial rule. The young republic has traveled an increasingly extreme course: fiercely independent, determinedly neutralist and finally—in the reign of Premier Ali-Sastroamidjojo—openly hostile to the U.S. and friendly to Red China. The Sastroamidjojo regime, rotted from within by corruption and Communists, collapsed last month. Last week Indonesia’s new, young (38) Premier sang a different and more refreshing tune. Burhanuddin Harahap, who leads Indonesia’s largest party, is heading a caretaker government until his country’s first general election this fall.

“I like the people of the United States,” Premier Harahap told New York Times Correspondent Robert Alden. “I am thankful for the help that they gave us toward winning our independence in the past. I will be thankful for any help they will be willing to give us in the future.”