The Malayan Communist Party as Recorded in the Comintern Files

With regard to ((3)-(b)), “people” seemed to mean “nationals”, or “those who have same
nationality”, such as Chinese nationals or Indian nationals living in Malaya. And “unity party”
meant a party which unified those who retained various original nationalities. In this connection,
the English-language “CC, the CP of Malay”, 1 May 1930 observed:
In the past, the communists of China, Java, & India, after their arrival at Malay (sic),
had their separate organizations, the Chinese communists carrying on in Malay the
Chinese Rev., …. They had made no rev. connections with the oppressed toiling
masses of Malay …. At the present Conference, we have corrected this mistake and
decided to establish the CP of Malay. Hereafter all the communists of China, India
& Java in Malay should work under the guidance of the Party of Malay and join the
Party life. 32
The NPC was evidently regarded and criticized as a “Unity Party” consisting of Chinese, Javanese,
Indian, and Malayan nationalities. Past research on the MCP commonly referred to the criticism
made by Ho Chi Minh at this Congress that the NPC had been China-centric and neglected the
Malays. But the above assessment was more fundamental: it demanded that the party members
consider themselves to be Malayan nationals, similar to the Malays.
Researchers had generally considered that the most important objective in reorganizing the NPC as
the MCP was for the Comintern to guide the Malayan Party directly and not through the CCP. The
documents of the Congress had no record of opposition to reorganization. But, before the summer
of 1930, Kurihara has noted, the FEB located in Shanghai could have had no influence over the CC
of the CCP; hence, the FEB tried to establish its own network in Nanyang from around 1931. 33 In
this situation, some CCP members of the NPC (MCP) might not have fully agreed with the FEB’s
directives which could have been one of the reasons the ES and the FEB repeatedly criticized the
MCP. Nonetheless, it should be noted here that the CCP had sent an instruction in 1929 not to rely
on the victory of Chinese revolution but to be independent under the leadership of the Comintern
(see I-2.).
43