The Malayan Communist Party as Recorded in the Comintern Files

quotation marks] of the CCP and remains as a Party composed mainly of Chinese
workers.
Imminent tasks;
i) Organising, initiating, leading and carrying on strike movement of the
working class and the fight of the peasantry, plantation and agricultural
labourers.
ii) Extending and strengthening the anti-imperialist movement, securing and
maintaining the independent leadership of the working class. 23
This second letter of 8 July appeared to have had a comparatively favourable assessment of the
MCP. Yet both letters were concerned that the MCP was still mainly a Chinese party despite the
decision taken at its inaugural congress.
As for the issue of armed insurrection, an MCP letter of 2 January 1931 placed “general strike”
together with “armed insurrection by toiling class” among its “present political tasks”. The MCP’s
letter of 7 February 1931, however, specified that the uprising of toiling masses (or terrorism) and
general strike “only [for the] purpose of propaganda”. Maybe because of this, the ES or the FEB
considered it necessary to issue its instruction which was to deny any resort to armed insurrection
even as a slogan. Still, the MCP might have been embarrassed and not merely confused by the
Comintern’s changing and inconsistent standpoint on armed insurrection.
4. Shanghai Municipal Police Files
Files are summarized below:
(1) Fu Ta-ching first arrived in Singapore in November 1928. The Communist
movement in Malaya was under his direction since then until his arrest on 1 June
1931.
(2) The following seized documents are purported to have emanated from Lefranc
[Ducroux].
Letter dated ‘Singapore 27.3.31’, partly in French and partly in code, refer to
the arrival of a certain person from Shanghai for information work. One ‘Mr.
Jack’ is mentioned. 24
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