Marian Ramelson, 'British Woman in New China': Report on the Asian Women's Conference, Peking, 1949
Pamphlet (1949, British WIDF Committee, Daily Worker-style 'Today' publication) in which Marian Ramelson reports on the WIDF-organised Conference of the Women of Asia in Peking (198 delegates, 23 countries). It relays delegates' speeches on child labour, polygamy, illiteracy and colonialism, and praises New China. Indo
National Conference of the Dutch Women's Movement in Amsterdam
De Waarheid notice (28 Oct 1949) of the national conference of the Dutch Women's Movement in Amsterdam, chaired by Rie Lips-Odinot, with news of the WIDF Council meeting in Peking and a talk by "an Indonesian woman fighter". Culture morning with peace films and choir.
FBIS, 30 November 1949: Interest focused on Asian Women's Conference
FBIS monitored New China News Agency report (30 Nov 1949) on worldwide preparations for the Asian Women's Conference in Peking (opening 6 Dec). Notes Indonesian women's delegation to Peking, funded partly by women's groups in Italy, Belgium and Austria, and Dutch women protesting the colonial war. Context for WIDF-link
Asian trade union conference ended in Peking
Short De Waarheid report (5 Dec 1949) on the close of the Asian trade-union conference in Peking, with resolutions and an appeal to Western workers including the Netherlands; WIDF spoke through Simone Bertrand, and gifts from Indonesia, Korea and Burma were presented. No Indonesian women named.
First time in Peking: exhibition on the life of women in Asia
Short De Waarheid report (9 Dec 1949) on the exhibition on the life and struggle of Asian women and workers opened in Peking for the WIDF Asian Women's Conference, with material from the USSR, Mongolia, China, Korea, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Iran. Speakers Li Dequan and Vaillant-Couturier stressed solidarity and n
FBIS, 13 December 1949: Many speeches mark third-day session (Asian Women's Conference)
FBIS monitored Peking radio report (13 Dec 1949) on day three of the Asian Women's Conference: Teng Ying-chao's report, speeches by delegates including an unnamed (OCR garbled) Indonesian delegate who urged an all-national united front under the Indonesian Communist Party; Dutch, French, Indochinese, Soviet speakers. E
FBIS, 15 December 1949: Lillah Suripno of Indonesia speaks
FBIS-monitored Xinhua text (15 Dec 1949) of a speech by Indonesian delegate 'Lillah' (Lily) Suripno at the Asian Women's Conference, Peking, 12 Dec. She thanks WIDF, surveys Indonesian anti-colonial history, the 1926-27 PKI revolts, Japanese occupation, women in guerrilla struggle, and calls for a PKI-led front of demo
Women in Colonial Countries: delegates to the Asian Women's Conference in Peking report (China Weekly Review, 1949)
China Weekly Review, 31 Dec 1949: report of delegates' speeches at the Asian Women's Conference in Peking (WIDF-aligned) on women in colonial and semi-colonial countries (Africa, Middle East, India, Indonesia, Netherlands, Vietnam, France, China, Korea, Madagascar, Burma). The Indonesian delegate Lillah Suripno traces
Daily Worker, 17 April 1950: I saw Mao Tse-tung - delegate's report on the Conference of the Women of Asia, Peking
Page 5 of the Daily Worker (New York, 17 Apr 1950) carrying Betty Millard's first article on the Peking Conference of the Women of Asia, organised by the WIDF. She describes the train journey from Moscow with delegates including a Dutch woman active against arms shipments to Indonesia. OCR is garbled and the article co
FBIS, 13 November 1950: Women's federation (Kowani and WIDF delegates)
FBIS note (13 Nov 1950): the Kowani executive reports that three WIDF delegates (Shen Chi-shu, Chen Ke, Chi Yun) would leave Peking on 16 Nov to attend the Kowani Congress, 24-26 Nov; Kowani is described as a WIDF member. Shows WIDF links with Indonesia's women's federation shortly after the Sept 1950 founding of Gerwi
It began in Paris: five years of the WIDF
De Waarheid retrospective (14 Dec 1950) on five years of the WIDF, founded in Paris in Dec 1945, describing its heroines and growth to 91 million members in 59 countries, the 1946 founding of the Dutch Women's Movement, the 1949 Asian women's conference in Peking and the Stockholm Appeal. Indonesian women are only name
CIA report, 26 February 1951: Estimate of the current economic situation in Indonesia
CIA report, 26 February 1951, on alleged communist-directed strike sabotage in Indonesia via SOBSI and WFTU. Gerwani-relevant only for naming a batik workers' union organised by Mrs Trimurti.
Beijing May Festivals Highlight Communist 'Peace' Campaign in Asia (1952)
State Department intelligence report (27 May 1952) on Beijing's May 1952 festivals and the Asia-Pacific peace conference preparations as part of the communist 'peace' campaign. Mentions the WIDF only as a precedent for earlier Beijing meetings (Nov-Dec 1949); no reference to Indonesia, Gerwis or Gerwani found.
FBIS, 27 September 1954: Indonesian delegates honored (Peking)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua item (27 Sep 1954): the Indonesian delegation and Indonesian women's delegation were entertained in Peking by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and the All-China Democratic Women's Federation. Shih Liang hailed Chinese-Indonesian women's friendship; Madam Poedjoboentoro spoke for t
Indonesian delegations in China, including a women's delegation
Short De Nieuwsgier report (30 Sept 1954, p. 2) on the arrival in Peking of an Indonesian delegation and a separate women's delegation, invited by the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs and the All-China Democratic Women's Federation. Mrs. S. Pudjobuntoro spoke for the women's delegation; Gerwani is not name
Sukarno's 'find'
Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 15 November 1955, p. 1: hostile Dutch editorial on Sukarno's Heroes' Day speech alleging a foreign plot. Among causes of his declining popularity it lists 'the indignation of the organised Indonesian women, who do not appreciate the marriage escapades of their president'. Gerwani is not name
WIDF Council (Peking, 24-30 April 1956) 'Appeal to the Women of Asia and Africa', with a side item on a European girls' conference in Paris. The appeal salutes anticolonial struggles, welcomes the Bandung principles, and opposes the Baghdad and SEATO pacts and nuclear tests. Indonesia and Gerwani are not named.
FBIS, 7 March 1956: Greetings messages (International Women's Day, Peking)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (7 Mar 1956): a Peking women's rally on the eve of International Women's Day sent greetings to WIDF; the All-China Democratic Women's Federation sent messages to women's groups across Asia and Africa. Includes a message to Wanita Indonesia (Indonesian Women's Congress and the Indonesian Wom
FBIS, 28 September 1956: Indonesian women's delegation (to China)
FBIS item (28 Sep 1956): a six-member Indonesian women's delegation led by Mrs Roeslan Abdulgani, wife of the foreign minister, reached Hong Kong and Singapore en route to Peking, invited by the Chinese Government to the National Day celebrations and to stay until 10 October. Context for official women's delegations to
China's growing friendly exchanges with women of other countries (Renmin Ribao, 4 March 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 4 Mar 1957, p. 4 (Xinhua): survey of Chinese women's 1956 exchanges with women of 58 countries, including hosting the WIDF Council in Beijing. An Indonesian women's delegation led by Mrs Abdulgani is listed among visitors. Gerwani is not named.
China's growing friendly exchanges with women of other countries (Renmin Ribao, 4 March 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 4 Mar 1957, p. 4 (Xinhua): survey of Chinese women's 1956 exchanges with women of 58 countries, including hosting the WIDF Council in Beijing. An Indonesian women's delegation led by Mrs Abdulgani is listed among visitors. Gerwani is not named.
Women of all countries strive for peace and their own rights (Renmin Ribao, 8 March 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1957, p. 6, Weng Hua: International Women's Day survey of women's struggles for peace and rights worldwide, WIDF growth, wage inequality and conditions in socialist countries. Only Indonesian item: an unnamed Indonesian women's organisation said to have grown from 6,000 members three years earlier t
Women of all countries strive for peace and their own rights (Renmin Ribao, 8 March 1957)
Renmin Ribao, 8 Mar 1957, p. 6, Weng Hua: International Women's Day survey of women's struggles for peace and rights worldwide, WIDF growth, wage inequality and conditions in socialist countries. Only Indonesian item: an unnamed Indonesian women's organisation said to have grown from 6,000 members three years earlier t
FBIS, 28 March 1959: Aidit broadcast speech (farewell to the Chinese people)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua text (28 Mar 1959) of D.N. Aidit's farewell broadcast to the Chinese people after a fortnight's PKI delegation visit. He praises the Great Leap and people's communes, defends them against 'imperialist lies', and argues peasant women welcome communal dining and nurseries because 'a smoky kitchen is
Record of Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing's Reception of Hartini Sukarno, 29 Sep 1962
Chinese Foreign Ministry record (not reviewed by Mao) of Mao Zedong and Jiang Qing receiving Hartini Sukarno in Beijing, 29 Sept 1962, with Deng Yingchao, Wang Guangmei, Chen Yi and Ambassador Sukarni present (Wilson Center; trans. David Cowhig). Topics: assassination attempts on Sukarno, West Irian settlement, Nasakom
FBIS, 18 July 1963: Delegation to women's congress welcomed (Peking rally)
FBIS-monitored Xinhua report (18 Jul 1963): a 10,000-strong Peking rally welcomed the Chinese delegation back from the Moscow World Congress of Women. Yang Yun-yu's report attacked Soviet delegation leader Popova and WIDF leaders for 'sectarianism, splittism and big-power chauvinism', calling the congress 'undemocratic
Foreign Office/CRO Papers on the PKI and Malaysia Confrontation (DO 169/516, 1964)
British Commonwealth Relations Office/Foreign Office file (DO 169/516, 1964) on Indonesia and Malaysia. It combines handwritten minutes, an IRD intelligence paper on the PKI (Aidit's December 1963 plenum, Sino-Soviet line, the prospect of PKI power within five years), a brief 'Communists smoothing path to power in Indo
Indonesia's rapprochement with China: Hartini Sukarno at women's gathering
De Telegraaf report (1 Feb 1965) on Indonesia's rapprochement with China, quoting Sukarno's CBS interview and Subandrio's Peking visit. Gerwani is not named; Hartini Sukarno is quoted at a women's movement gathering calling for common struggle with "Chinese comrades" in 1965.
Peking Review no. 46, 12 November 1965: anti-communist and anti-China activities of Indonesian right-wing forces
Peking Review Vol. VIII No. 46, 12 November 1965, a Chinese weekly. Contents: October Revolution anniversary, the Wang Chieh campaign, the Renmin Ribao/Hongqi refutation of the CPSU 'united action', and Indonesia reports on the anti-China current, a Chinese protest to Jakarta and 'rabid anti-communist' activities of ri
Not the old Subandrio (The Scotsman, 29 October 1966)
The Scotsman, 29 Oct 1966, 'Not the old Subandrio': profile of Sukarno's former foreign minister, condemned to death by a military tribunal for treason and bearing 'heavy responsibility for the rise of the PKI'. It traces his career and notes he is a scapegoat the Suharto regime can blame while Sukarno is retained for