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Preface<br />
This study of some <strong>as</strong>pects of <strong>the</strong> early history of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Malayan</strong> <strong>Communist</strong> <strong>Party</strong> (MCP) departs<br />
from most research on <strong>the</strong> MCP by draw<strong>in</strong>g primarily on MCP-related documents and files of <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>Communist</strong> International (Com<strong>in</strong>tern) that became accessible to researchers when <strong>the</strong> Soviet state<br />
archives located <strong>in</strong> Moscow were opened after <strong>the</strong> break-up of <strong>the</strong> Soviet Union (USSR). <strong>The</strong><br />
Com<strong>in</strong>tern documents used here are valuable <strong>as</strong> a new source of <strong>in</strong>formation that supplements and<br />
may be tested aga<strong>in</strong>st o<strong>the</strong>r sources, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g official documents kept by <strong>the</strong> governments of<br />
colonial and <strong>in</strong>dependent Malaya/Malaysia, <strong>the</strong> MCP’s own publications, and various writ<strong>in</strong>gs that<br />
have been published by former MCP members. It is <strong>the</strong> objective of this study to use this new<br />
material to fur<strong>the</strong>r current understand<strong>in</strong>g of several important issues related to <strong>the</strong> MCP’s early<br />
history. Those issues <strong>in</strong>clude <strong>the</strong> party’s organizational antecedent and establishment, its official<br />
relationship with <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern, and its <strong>in</strong>ternal disputes dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> pre-Pacific War period.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> outset, I should expla<strong>in</strong> how I came to be able to consult <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern files related to <strong>the</strong><br />
MCP. Around 1992 Professor Kurihara Hirohide and his group of Tokyo University of Foreign<br />
Studies researchers had ga<strong>in</strong>ed access to <strong>the</strong> volum<strong>in</strong>ous documents kept <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Russian State<br />
Archive for Socio-Political History (RSASPH, or, <strong>in</strong> Russian, Российский государственный<br />
архив социально- политической истории). 1 <strong>The</strong>y studiously copied a large batch of documents<br />
by hand. Among <strong>the</strong> files that <strong>the</strong>y obta<strong>in</strong>ed on various communist parties of Sou<strong>the</strong><strong>as</strong>t Asia were a<br />
substantial number of documents relat<strong>in</strong>g to <strong>the</strong> MCP. Professor Kurihara very generously gave me<br />
a set of copies of those documents which totaled about 170 pages. I wish to record my deep<br />
appreciation of Professor Kurihara’s k<strong>in</strong>dness <strong>in</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se precious historical documents<br />
available to me, an old retired historian. Thus I have been motivated by my fortunate ga<strong>in</strong> of a new<br />
archive to conduct what may be my f<strong>in</strong>al research project on <strong>the</strong> MCP.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern files consist of documents <strong>in</strong> five languages. <strong>The</strong> majority of <strong>the</strong> documents were<br />
written <strong>in</strong> Russian, followed by English, Ch<strong>in</strong>ese, German and French. I cannot read Russian,<br />
German or French. Luckily for me, my eldest bro<strong>the</strong>r, Mr Hara Happo, can read Russian and<br />
German, and my second, elder bro<strong>the</strong>r, Mr Hara Motoo, can read French. Between <strong>the</strong>m, my<br />
bro<strong>the</strong>rs did me <strong>the</strong> great service of translat<strong>in</strong>g relevant documents <strong>in</strong>to Japanese. I have used <strong>the</strong>ir<br />
able translations and made summaries <strong>in</strong> English from <strong>the</strong>m for this article. I am <strong>in</strong>debted to my<br />
elder bro<strong>the</strong>rs for <strong>the</strong>ir great help.<br />
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