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CHAPTER II<br />
FORMATION OF THE MALAYAN COMMUNIST PARTY (MCP)<br />
<strong>The</strong> date of <strong>the</strong> formation of <strong>the</strong> MCP h<strong>as</strong> not been unanimously agreed even though <strong>the</strong> party h<strong>as</strong><br />
officially designated it <strong>as</strong> 30 April 1930. <strong>The</strong> MCP’s official found<strong>in</strong>g date relied on <strong>the</strong> memory of<br />
Ho Chi M<strong>in</strong>h (Nguyen Ai Quoc) who presided at <strong>the</strong> party’s <strong>in</strong>augural congress. But, this would<br />
have been <strong>the</strong> Second Representatives’ Congress accord<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> brief history outl<strong>in</strong>ed earlier and<br />
to <strong>the</strong> MCP’s book published after World War II. 1 Even this conference (congress) could have been<br />
<strong>the</strong> second or <strong>the</strong> third, noted Cheah Boon Kheng. 2 <strong>The</strong>n aga<strong>in</strong>, C. F. Yong suggested that <strong>the</strong> MCP<br />
w<strong>as</strong> founded between early to mid-April 1930. 3<br />
Regard<strong>in</strong>g those two issues, what have <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern <strong>Files</strong> revealed?<br />
1. W<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong> NPC Congress <strong>the</strong> Second or <strong>the</strong> Third?<br />
In <strong>the</strong> short history of <strong>the</strong> MCP written <strong>in</strong> February 1942, <strong>the</strong> CC of <strong>the</strong> MCP w<strong>as</strong> elected at <strong>the</strong><br />
Second Congress <strong>in</strong> 1930 (Chapter I-1.). However, a resolution adopted at that Congress stated that<br />
it w<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong> Third Congress of <strong>the</strong> Malay Archipelago <strong>Communist</strong> <strong>Party</strong> (mean<strong>in</strong>g NPC) (Chapter I-<br />
2.). Four o<strong>the</strong>r sets of documents noted that it w<strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong> Third Congress. <strong>The</strong> first set is shown <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
list of Russian-language documents, 4 <strong>the</strong> second <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> list of English-language documents 5 (see<br />
List of Documents of <strong>the</strong> RSASPH). <strong>The</strong>re w<strong>as</strong> also a third letter <strong>in</strong> Russian, dated 23 October<br />
1930, which <strong>the</strong> E<strong>as</strong>tern Secretariat (ES) of <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern had sent to its Far E<strong>as</strong>tern Bureau<br />
(FEB). 6 And, fourthly, <strong>the</strong>re were also letters <strong>in</strong> Russian sent to Cd. Kuus<strong>in</strong>en. 7 S<strong>in</strong>ce <strong>the</strong><br />
contemporary (1930) documents were logically <strong>the</strong> most accurate sources of <strong>in</strong>formation, <strong>the</strong> NPC<br />
congress w<strong>as</strong> most probably <strong>the</strong> Third Congress.<br />
2. Date of <strong>the</strong> Inaugural Congress<br />
None of <strong>the</strong> documents available to this author explicitly and <strong>in</strong>disputably mentioned <strong>the</strong> date of<br />
<strong>the</strong> MCP’s <strong>in</strong>augural congress.<br />
Among <strong>the</strong> documents with Russian contents, <strong>the</strong>re is one, “Resolutions at <strong>the</strong> Third Congress of<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>Communist</strong> <strong>Party</strong> of <strong>the</strong> Malay Archipelago”, which w<strong>as</strong> <strong>as</strong> a whole dated September 1930 to<br />
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