sentence: british leaders were primarily interested in retaining control of singapore ; the military capacity of the dutch east indies had suffered as a result of the defeat of the netherlands in 1940 , and the dutch administration was focused on defending the island of java ; the australian government was heavily committed to the war in north africa and europe , and had few readily accessible military resources , and ; the united states was preoccupied with the philippines , which at the time was a u.s. commonwealth territory .