English spoken event:

First seminar of a seminar series on the legacies and contemporary realities of West Papua. 

“Being economical with the truth: Dutch public claims and hidden agendas about Netherlands New Guinea (West Papua)”

by Grace Cheng & Astrid Cornelisse.

In its public diplomacy between 1949 and 1962, the Netherlands consistently claimed that its presence in Netherlands New Guinea – also widely referred to at the time as West New Guinea (WNG) and today as West Papua – was not of a colonial nature. 

Instead, the Dutch government maintained that it had nothing significant to gain economically from the territory because it lacked resources of commercial value, that the Netherlands was concerned only with the well-being of the Papuan people and, particularly as the push for decolonisation gained traction, preparing them for self-determination.

This presentation is based on an article that challenges those claims by critically examining Dutch public diplomacy at the time as well as presenting evidence of The Hague’s engagement with private companies to profit from the mineral wealth of the territory, which was concealed from the public. 

This seminar is a hybrid event and will be held in the conference room of KITLV, Herta Mohr building, room 1.30, Witte Singel 27 A, Leiden and online via Zoom, on Tuesday 10 February from 15.30–17.00 PM (CET).