Chapter 1257 Donghe Negotiation
At two o'clock in the afternoon, the East African ship officially docked in the port of The Hague. People from the East African Embassy in The Hague went to the dock area in advance to greet Baron Freer.
"Your Excellency, Minister, welcome to The Hague. I wonder what work you need from us when you come to The Hague in person this time." The Ambassador to the Netherlands said respectfully.
Freer is the Minister of Foreign Affairs of East Africa and is now the immediate boss of the East African diplomats stationed in the Netherlands, so it is impossible not to pay attention to Freer's arrival.
Freer said: "Antara, I am here to discuss some sensitive issues with the Dutch government on behalf of the imperial government, which are related to territorial issues in the Southeast Asia region. You first disclose some information to the Dutch government and arrange for me to discuss it with the Dutch Prime Minister. Have a meeting.”
Freer is not in a hurry to negotiate with the Dutch government because he believes that East Africa will definitely dominate the Netherlands, unless the war in Europe suddenly ends and world order is restored. However, this is obviously impossible to happen, so Freer has the patience to negotiate with the Dutch government. people discuss territorial issues.
Two days later, the official residence of the Dutch Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Kuyper looked at the "evil guest" in front of him with an embarrassed expression, and said helplessly: "Your Excellency Freer, this time you have reached out to the Netherlands again, it seems a bit too ugly!"
After all, the Netherlands had just sold East Kalimantan to East Africa and once again made territorial claims from East Africa. It was strange that Kuyper was in a good mood.
Freer said to Kuyper with a smile: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, don't worry. We in East Africa naturally have no grudges against the Netherlands. The two countries have always maintained friendly relations."
"Take the last transaction in East Kalimantan as an example. We showed your country's sincerity by acquiring the East Kalimantan area at a premium and sharing part of the benefits. So in the last transaction, your country not only did not If you suffer a loss, you will make a fortune.”
"After all, if your country develops the area in East Kalimantan, you will have to wait until the end of the Year of the Monkey to get your money back. This can be considered as a relief for you."
Kuyper naturally did not accept this trick. He said: "If possible, we in the Netherlands 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 entire The future of East Kalimantan is clearly one we, the Netherlands, will suffer.”
Freer said: "Haha, you can't say for sure. After all, the British are just north of East Kalimantan. If you really found any resources in East Kalimantan before, does the Prime Minister really think you can keep it?"
"Not to mention our country and the United Kingdom, the United States and France are not weak in the Nanyang region, especially the United States, a new player in the region. I think these may have an uncertain impact on your country's interests in Nanyang."
"So, it would be most beneficial for East Kalimantan to be handed over to our country. If it were other countries, they would probably take action directly."
Kuyper sneered in his heart. Friel had the nerve to say that the Americans were new players. East Africa entered the Southeast Asian region only more than ten years earlier than the Americans.
Looking at other colonial powers in Nanyang, all of them have been here for almost hundreds of years, especially old players like the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Of course, it was impossible for Kuyper to laugh at these words in front of Freer. He said: "Even if you are right, East Kalimantan was a fair deal last time, but this time we in the Netherlands did not sell it. Territorial plans.”
Both of them had different opinions, but they both made sense. From the perspective of East Africa, East Africa treated the Netherlands with courtesy. After all, East Africa could obviously rob it, but it came specifically to negotiate with the Netherlands.
Freer said: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, don't be too busy saying no. I certainly know that the East Indies is a core interest of your country."
"This time our East African appeals to your country will naturally not be too excessive. Rather, we have no choice but to ask for help from your country due to national defense strategic issues. Of course, you can rest assured that we only need some trivial things for your country. place."
As he spoke, Freer took out an atlas from his document bag. This was an atlas of the Dutch East Indies colonies.
The atlas can be said to be very detailed, and the densely packed islands and names are clearly marked.
Looking at this atlas, Dutch Prime Minister Kuyper felt alarm bells ringing in his heart.
But Freer calmly opened the first page, and then said to Kuyper: "Your Excellency, please see, this is a map of Nanyang. The dotted line on it is the current navigation route map of Nanyang region."
"This is the Strait of Malacca, and the easternmost section of the Strait of Malacca is the Singapore Strait, which is currently the most important waterway for east-west trade."
"The Singapore Strait is firmly controlled by the British, which is obviously not conducive to the security of the empire and eastern trade for us in East Africa."
"Except for the Strait of Malacca, almost all alternative routes pass through your country's East Indies colonies, including the Sunda Strait, the Lombok Strait... and so on. 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 quickly stopped him and said: "Okay, Sir Freer, I naturally know the situation in the Nanyang region very well, and I don't need your introduction."
"However, the Strait of Malacca is controlled by the British. Then you can negotiate with the British. Why are you staring at our small country, the Netherlands? In order to maintain the stability of the East Indies, we have to pay a heavy price. It is impossible for your country to The so-called security harms our own interests.”
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.
And to control a strait, it is obvious that you 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: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, we certainly know the importance and will not joke with your country's interests."
"We just want to obtain some "insignificant" areas of your country to ensure the smooth flow of our trade channels, and we will never make it difficult for you."
Freer did not keep the secret and said directly: "Like Sumatra Island, Java Island, etc., these colonies that are of great importance to your country, we naturally respect your country's interests in the local area."
"And what our country wants is just some islands, such as Sangiang Island in the middle of the Sunda Strait, Panaytan Island in the west, Belitung Island in the east..."
Freer directly named nearly a dozen islands before stopping.
It looks 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 for the East Indies.
And the islands named by East Africa are not large in area. The largest of them is Belitung Island, which is 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.
Kuyper's mouth twitched, and he was so angry that people who didn't know would think you were here to buy goods! Although the economic value of these islands is not great, many islands don't even have people, and some islands are only a few square kilometers.
However, they all have an obvious feature, that is, they have a good strategic position, such as Sangiang Island, although the area is less than ten square kilometers, there is no population on the island, only a large rainforest.
But this island is right in the middle of the Sunda Strait, but Kuyper doesn't know what the meaning 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 people.
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.