The Malayan Communist Party as Recorded in the Comintern Files

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INTRODUCTION Much research has been conducted on the history of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP). Prior to the Hadyai Peace Agreements that were signed in 1989 between the Government of Malaysia and the MCP and between the Government of Thailand and the MCP, research on the party mainly depended on government sources, that is, official documents and files belonging to the British colonial authorities and the Malayan/Malaysian government. After the Hadyai Peace Agreements, various MCP sources of information also became available to researchers and, about the same time, a few dozen former MCP members began to publish not only their memoirs but also historical party documents. The new materials have tremendously enriched the historiography of the MCP. From their very beginning, communist organizations of Malaya, inter alia, the MCP, were guided and led by the Communist International (Comintern) which was established in March 1919 and dissolved in May 1943. Owing to difficulties in gaining access to the archives of the Soviet Union (USSR), the Comintern files kept in Moscow could not be consulted for a long time. After the collapse of the USSR, however, its archives were opened to foreign historians. In the past decade, a few scholars, such as Sophie Quinn-Judge, 1 Kurihara Hirohide 2 and Larisa Efimova 3 have used Comintern files in research that made references to the MCP. For these scholars, however, the MCP constituted a rather minor portion of their work and they only used a small part of the available material. Thus, historical studies of the MCP that consistently and comprehensively use the Comintern files have not been carried out yet. For its part, the present work uses Comintern documents mentioned in the Preface to revisit the early history of the MCP that remains an important area of inquiry because there are differing theories and viewpoints regarding several basic issues, as discussed below. The MCP’s Antecedent and Establishment Prior to the MCP, a communist organization was formed that covered communist activities in the whole of Southeast Asia (the “South Seas” or Nanyang). For some time, it was commonly held that the antecedent of the MCP was formed in 1928 as the Nanyang Communist Party (NCP). Professor C. F. Yong (hereafter occasionally Yong), however, argued that this “established theory” was flawed. Mostly from his interviews with former Malayan communists who had settled in China after being deported from Malaya or had left Malaya on their own accord in the 1930s and 1940s, 6
Yong contended that the MCP’s antecedent was in fact a branch (Nanyang Provisional Committee, which was set up in October 1926) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). 4 The MCP’s official record, which was published in 2010, also stated that the antecedent was formed in October 1926 as the Nanyang Provisional Committee of the Communist Party (sic). 5 The organization was apparently renamed the Nanyang Communist Party in 1927 but this detail was itself derived from a dictionary 6 published in Beijing in 1993. As for the date of the foundation of the MCP itself, too, there still are two theories. All the official MCP documents proclaim that it was established on 30 April 1930. However, C.F. Yong argues that it was founded between early to mid-April 1930. Yong’s crucial grounds is that key MCP founders who had participated in its inaugural meeting were arrested on 29 April in the so called “Nassim Road Incident”. 7 In short, both the antecedent and the date of the establishment of the MCP could not yet be confirmed beyond dispute. MCP’s Affiliation with the Comintern Nor was it certain whether the MCP was officially a branch of the Comintern. On this matter, both Yong 8 and Professor Cheah Boon Kheng (hereafter Cheah) 9 have cited G. Hanrahan’s pioneering work which referred to the 1934 (sic) MCP constitution which stated that the MCP was “an affiliate of the Comintern”. 10 Nonetheless, no one had so far been able to prove the official membership of the MCP on the basis of evidence supplied by the Comintern. This was an issue that could conceivably be resolved by consulting Comintern documents. Correspondence and Relations Between the MCP and the Comintern Hitherto the relations between the MCP and the Comintern on the whole have been analyzed mainly based on the contents of letters intercepted by the British colonial authorities (especially the Special Branch police, or SB) and information obtained from the seized documents as well as the interrogations of arrested communists. Although the colonial authorities very vigilantly monitored the international correspondence between the communists and intercepted many suspicious letters, other letters evidently reached their intended recipients without being noticed. Hence, comparing the relevant SB-intercepted documents (as cited in various research publications) with other 7
Page 1 and 2: 2016 NO. 1 The Malayan Communist Pa
Page 3 and 4: ISSUE: 2016 NO. 01 CONTENTS Preface
Page 5 and 6: I would also like to thank Professo
Page 7: List of Tables Table 1 Membership o
Page 11 and 12: While continuing my research at ISE
Page 13 and 14: 13. Nandao zhi Chun (Spring of Sout
Page 15 and 16: document, dated 15 January 1942, si
Page 17 and 18: 1. Establishment of the Nanyang Pro
Page 19 and 20: PC members, Wen Xin Ruo (Вень
Page 21 and 22: The CCP’s instruction was also sa
Page 23 and 24: In May 1930, under the guidance of
Page 25 and 26: (15) Tan Tiu-jeng, alias Tan Jui-se
Page 27 and 28: 6. Changes in the Comintern’s Str
Page 29 and 30: (1) Name of the Party: for several
Page 31 and 32: Presidium (GC). From the Comintern
Page 33 and 34: Notes 1. Nandao zhi Chun (Spring of
Page 35 and 36: 26. US National Archives & Records
Page 37 and 38: January 1931 (Ф. 495 оп.62 д.3)
Page 39 and 40: Soon after this conference [before
Page 41 and 42: Yong wrote that the MCP was founded
Page 43 and 44: imperialist can be driven out and t
Page 45 and 46: With regard to ((3)-(b)), “people
Page 47 and 48: and Indians, participated in a demo
Page 49 and 50: entitled “The principal demands o
Page 51 and 52: implemented. It is indispensable to
Page 53 and 54: conditions than the native workers.
Page 55 and 56: The MCP’s resolutions quoted abov
Page 57 and 58: 4. Letter from Wang Yung Hai to the
Page 59 and 60:
October 1929. In April 1931, the Co
Page 61 and 62:
(4) Wang Yung Hai wrote in December
Page 63 and 64:
and workers and peasants’ uprisin
Page 65 and 66:
We are expecting, after the above m
Page 67 and 68:
they had no connections with the Co
Page 69 and 70:
It seemed rather strange that the u
Page 71 and 72:
code; it was neither translated nor
Page 73 and 74:
Details are below: (1) Socio-econom
Page 75 and 76:
vii) Create opposition groups in th
Page 77 and 78:
quotation marks] of the CCP and rem
Page 79 and 80:
6. Sophie, op., cit., p.169. This p
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CHAPTER V THE MCP AND THE COMINTERN
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1932, demonstrations against the Bi
Page 85 and 86:
We already have considerable organi
Page 87 and 88:
Membership has not changed since si
Page 89 and 90:
ecorded the arrest on 22 June 1934
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organisations should also participa
Page 93 and 94:
Cruxes are shown first: (1) One del
Page 95 and 96:
As to MCP’s delegates in Shanghai
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Extraordinaire: Lai Teck, Secretary
Page 99 and 100:
CHAPTER VI THE MCP AND THE COMINTER
Page 101 and 102:
was founded in early 1928, 11 the M
Page 103 and 104:
(2) Shanghai Municipal Police Files
Page 105 and 106:
The most important decision taken a
Page 107 and 108:
workers were mobilized, the Chinese
Page 109 and 110:
to “cooperate with Britain”. Th
Page 111 and 112:
We should eliminate the danger of r
Page 113 and 114:
turn favorable. Even though they ha
Page 115 and 116:
of North Malaya insisted that only
Page 117 and 118:
9. Ф. 495 оп.62 д.30. / In its
Page 119 and 120:
CHAPTER VII THE MCP AND THE COMINTE
Page 121 and 122:
assembly, organisation, belief and
Page 123 and 124:
(2) Characteristics of present stru
Page 125 and 126:
(2) Middle-level cadres: Chi Cheng?
Page 127 and 128:
Even among the overseas Chinese, th
Page 129 and 130:
8. Ф. 495 оп.62 д.28. 9. C.F. Y
Page 131 and 132:
Conclusion of the Third Congress of
Page 133 and 134:
MCP and the so-called “Comintern
Page 135 and 136:
the Japanese Army. Immediately afte
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when Lai Teck could not convince th
Page 139 and 140:
Appendix List of Documents of the R
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Table 1. Membership of Trade Unions
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Wang Yung Hai (no Russian) 王永
Page 145 and 146:
Table 3 Membership of the Communist
Page 147 and 148:
Table 5 Leaders of the NPC & the ea
Page 149 and 150:
1-1 From the Comintern Table 6 Exch
Page 151 and 152:
24) 13 Jun. 1939 SC, MCP Resolution
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The Malayan Communist Party as Recorded in the Comintern Files

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