The Malayan Communist Party as Recorded in the Comintern Files

subsequent communication with the Comintern to mail alone. In around 1934, their connections
were to some extent restored and nine representatives were successively dispatched to Shanghai. In
1935 and 1936 also, a few were sent again. Yet, it was difficult for them to contact either the
Comintern or the CCP. As for representatives sent to the Comintern’s Headquarters, Moscow, only
two persons could be confirmed. One was Fu Hung-chi who came back to Shanghai from Moscow
towards the end of 1930 and an unknown person who was dispatched to Moscow to attend the 7th
World Congress in 1934. Therefore, there might be no direct connection between the Comintern
and the MCP.
6. Documents analyzed here ranged from 1928 until early 1942. Dividing these into two,
documents written by the Comintern and those by the MCP, the important ones are shown by
chronological order in Table 6. Those written by the Comintern, most of them seemed to have been
sent from Shanghai, could not necessarily reach the MCP in Malaya (mostly Singapore). Those
written by the MCP certainly reached the Comintern simply because these were kept in their
archives. But some were intercepted either in Malaya or in Shanghai and could not reach the
Comintern. These were not listed in the Comintern Files.
From immediately before the foundation of the MCP in early 1930 until the arrests of the
Ducroux group in mid-1931, many letters were exchanged. There existed “dialogue”, that is,
something like; report ~ instruction ~ reply ~ comment~ criticism. This dialogue was stopped by
the Ducroux incident. As for 1932, only one MCP’s letter written towards the end of that year
reached Moscow. Two MCP letters written in 1933 took a year to reach the Comintern. In 1934,
communication was revived. Yet, a majority of the MCP letters appeared not to reach the
Comintern due to interception of the SB. As far as the documents listed on the Comintern Files, an
instruction sent from the AAS dated 25 January 1935 was the last one sent to the MCP. After that,
no such directive was recorded among the Comintern Files.
According to Yong, the MCP’s adoption of the mass line [Anti-Japanese United Front] in
1936 was in response first to Comintern directive arising from its Seventh World Congress in
Moscow in July 1935 and then to the CCP advice after the Sian [Xian] Incident in December
1936. 1 It is well recorded in his book that in this period the CCP increased its influence over the
MCP, especially by sending many trained cadres to Malaya to lead the anti-Japanese movement. 2
No instruction after that was mentioned in his book. Cheah, too, said: “The MCP remained
throughout of the year [1936] isolated from contact with the Comintern”. 3 No directive after 1936
was referred in his book. McLane also wrote: “Ties alleged to have existed since 1933 between the
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