The Rise Of Australasia - Chapter 979

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Chapter 979: Chapter 735: Disappointing Officer

Though the meeting was convened to achieve Arthur’s goal, which was to assist in the restoration of Manuel.

The atmosphere was still rather awkward, with Portuguese officials and members of the Democratic Party virtually becoming spectators, unable to join the conversation of delegates from other countries.

Aside from the occasional exchanges with Manuel II, also Portuguese, the representatives of other countries seemed to have a tacit understanding to sideline Portuguese officials.

Yet, this was a reality that the Portuguese officials and members of the Democratic Party could not change. Looking closely at the nations represented, even the weakest among them were second-tier European strong countries like Belgium and Bulgaria.

Compared to Belgium and Bulgaria, Portugal’s strength could be considered roughly equivalent. However, they had no presence at the highest echelons of Portugal’s political scene, which naturally placed them a level lower in status.

What made matters worse was that representatives from Australasian and British superpowers were present next to them.

Upon closer inspection, representatives from these nations were all from the nobility, and their titles were not low-ranking. Could these ordinary officials insert themselves into a conversation among nobility? Of course not.

Frankly speaking, there is still a certain pride among European nobility. Although the aristocracy as a whole might have declined, the pride of the nobles hasn’t changed much.

But in the end, this was also a tactic. By using a sort of strong-arming, they could achieve their goal, which was to make Portugal understand who was the true controller of world affairs.

After all, Portugal was nothing more than an ordinary pawn on the world’s chessboard. Compared to chess players like Australasia and Britain, Portugal had far fewer options available.

Arthur didn’t care about the outcome of the meeting. If the Gotha family mobilized so many members and couldn’t secure the small country of Portugal, then it only meant that Portugal was not an area that Australasia could covet at the moment.

Rather than focusing on the situation in Portugal, Arthur was currently more concerned about the conditions in several Australasian colonies.

With the inclusion of the Royal Territory into the direct-governed state of Dili, Australasia’s efforts to localize the colonies were already more than halfway complete.

The regions that had been established as directly governed states to date were: the New Guinea Directly Governed State, the Dili Directly Governed State, the Java Island Directly Governed State, the Sulawesi Directly Governed State, and the Sumatra Directly Governed State.

Yes, the lands of the Dutch East Indies that were occupied, with the exception of Kalimantan, which became the independent United Sultanate, the remainder has been virtually completely assimilated and localized.

In these directly governed states, even Sulawesi with the smallest population had over 150,000 inhabitants. Java Island, with the largest population, had already surpassed 780,000 permanent residents, proving Australasia’s efforts at localization in these areas.

More importantly, the entire population of these areas had become Australasians. Even if the colonial systems of Britain and France were to collapse someday, Australasia wouldn’t need to worry about losing control over these regions.

After all, with a population entirely consisting of Australasians, these lands have always belonged to Australasia since ancient times.

As for those populations that were expelled, sorry, Australasia did not acknowledge them.

Arthur had inspected the localization situation in New Guinea, which set the expectations for his inspection targets, naturally turning his attention to Java Island and Sumatra Island.

Those two islands originally had a higher population of indigenous people compared to New Guinea, but most have now been relocated to Kalimantan Island.

The current permanent population is almost entirely Australasian, not only reflecting the local government’s efforts in localization but also indicating Australasia’s control over the regions.

Arthur’s inspection of Java Island and Sumatra Island was not just to physically assess their localization but also to identify problems in the localization process and then help solve them.

Honestly, colonization localization is a very challenging project because it involves creating nearly identical infrastructure to that of the homeland in a rather barren colony, including medical care and education, among other aspects.

Besides substantial investments from the government, the efforts of the local authorities and people are also significant.

Arthur’s purpose in inspecting Java and Sumatra Islands was to see if these places had genuinely achieved localization or if they were just going through the motions to complete the tasks assigned by Arthur.

However, the current governors of the directly governed states, formerly the colonial governors, were appointed by Arthur, so he had quite a bit of confidence in his choices.

Moreover, Arthur also believed that under the current global circumstances, it was unlikely anyone would dare to deceit him so blatantly.

After all, the risks outweighed the gains, and being discovered would lead to very severe consequences.

On August 1st, 1929, during the winter of the Southern Hemisphere, Arthur chose to head north to Southeast Asia. not only to escape the cold but also to inspect the localization of the various states in the Southeast Asian region.

Compared to mainland Australia, the development of the Southeast Asian regions was more backward, and the work of localization was very arduous.

Arthur’s trip was not just about finding problems but also about solving them after their discovery.

He traveled from Saint Arthur Castle eastward to Sydney, then from Sydney he boarded a ship, moving majestically toward Southeast Asia with an escort of warships.

Accompanying Arthur on his inspection trip to the Southeast Asian region were the Minister of Finance Hunter, the Industry Secretary Joey, the Minister of Transportation Jeremy, and the Minister of Education Kailo.

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