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Yong contended that <strong>the</strong> MCP’s antecedent w<strong>as</strong> <strong>in</strong> fact a branch (Nanyang Provisional Committee,<br />
which w<strong>as</strong> set up <strong>in</strong> October 1926) of <strong>the</strong> Ch<strong>in</strong>ese <strong>Communist</strong> <strong>Party</strong> (CCP). 4 <strong>The</strong> MCP’s official<br />
record, which w<strong>as</strong> published <strong>in</strong> 2010, also stated that <strong>the</strong> antecedent w<strong>as</strong> formed <strong>in</strong> October 1926 <strong>as</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Nanyang Provisional Committee of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Communist</strong> <strong>Party</strong> (sic). 5 <strong>The</strong> organization w<strong>as</strong><br />
apparently renamed <strong>the</strong> Nanyang <strong>Communist</strong> <strong>Party</strong> <strong>in</strong> 1927 but this detail w<strong>as</strong> itself derived from a<br />
dictionary 6 published <strong>in</strong> Beij<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> 1993.<br />
As for <strong>the</strong> date of <strong>the</strong> foundation of <strong>the</strong> MCP itself, too, <strong>the</strong>re still are two <strong>the</strong>ories. All <strong>the</strong> official<br />
MCP documents proclaim that it w<strong>as</strong> established on 30 April 1930. However, C.F. Yong argues<br />
that it w<strong>as</strong> founded between early to mid-April 1930. Yong’s crucial grounds is that key MCP<br />
founders who had participated <strong>in</strong> its <strong>in</strong>augural meet<strong>in</strong>g were arrested on 29 April <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> so called<br />
“N<strong>as</strong>sim Road Incident”. 7<br />
In short, both <strong>the</strong> antecedent and <strong>the</strong> date of <strong>the</strong> establishment of <strong>the</strong> MCP could not yet be<br />
confirmed beyond dispute.<br />
MCP’s Affiliation with <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern<br />
Nor w<strong>as</strong> it certa<strong>in</strong> whe<strong>the</strong>r <strong>the</strong> MCP w<strong>as</strong> officially a branch of <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern. On this matter, both<br />
Yong 8 and Professor Cheah Boon Kheng (hereafter Cheah) 9 have cited G. Hanrahan’s pioneer<strong>in</strong>g<br />
work which referred to <strong>the</strong> 1934 (sic) MCP constitution which stated that <strong>the</strong> MCP w<strong>as</strong> “an affiliate<br />
of <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern”. 10 None<strong>the</strong>less, no one had so far been able to prove <strong>the</strong> official membership of<br />
<strong>the</strong> MCP on <strong>the</strong> b<strong>as</strong>is of evidence supplied by <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern. This w<strong>as</strong> an issue that could<br />
conceivably be resolved by consult<strong>in</strong>g Com<strong>in</strong>tern documents.<br />
Correspondence and Relations Between <strong>the</strong> MCP and <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern<br />
Hi<strong>the</strong>rto <strong>the</strong> relations between <strong>the</strong> MCP and <strong>the</strong> Com<strong>in</strong>tern on <strong>the</strong> whole have been analyzed<br />
ma<strong>in</strong>ly b<strong>as</strong>ed on <strong>the</strong> contents of letters <strong>in</strong>tercepted by <strong>the</strong> British colonial authorities (especially <strong>the</strong><br />
Special Branch police, or SB) and <strong>in</strong>formation obta<strong>in</strong>ed from <strong>the</strong> seized documents <strong>as</strong> well <strong>as</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>terrogations of arrested communists. Although <strong>the</strong> colonial authorities very vigilantly monitored<br />
<strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternational correspondence between <strong>the</strong> communists and <strong>in</strong>tercepted many suspicious letters,<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r letters evidently reached <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>in</strong>tended recipients without be<strong>in</strong>g noticed. Hence, compar<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> relevant SB-<strong>in</strong>tercepted documents (<strong>as</strong> cited <strong>in</strong> various research publications) with o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
7