Malaysian Communist Party

The Malaysian Communist Party (abbreviated MCP, Malay: Parti Komunis Malaysia, abbreviated PKMAL, Chinese: 马来西亚共产党, abbreviated 马西共, Tamil: மலேசிய கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி) was an underground Malaysian communist party. MCP traced its roots to splinter groups amongst communist guerrillas in southern Thailand in the 1970s. The party conducted armed struggle in the Malaysian-Thai border areas between 1983 and 1987. It eventually accepted a deal for cessation of hostilities with the Thai military and its cadres were resettled in 'friendship villages'.

Malaysian Communist Party
General SecretaryAh Leng
Founded5 December 1983 (1983-12-05)
Dissolved1987
Merger ofCommunist Party of Malaya/Revolutionary Faction and Communist Party of Malaya/Marxist-Leninist
HeadquartersBetong District, Thailand
Armed wingMalaysian People's Liberation Army
Front organisationMalaysian People's Liberation League
Radio stationVoice of the People of Malaysia
IdeologyMarxism-Leninism

Foundation

The party was formed on 5 December 1983 through the merger of two Communist Party of Malaya splinter groups; the Communist Party of Malaya/Revolutionary Faction and the Communist Party of Malaya/Marxist-Leninist.[1][2][3][4] The two key leaders of MCP were Ah Leng (General Secretary of the party, hailing from CPM/ML) and Huang Chen (former CPM/RF leader).[4]

MCP traced its roots to a crisis in the CPM in the Thai-Malaysian border regions following a 1968-1970 internal purge. Up to 200 cadres were estimated to have killed in the purge, resulting in two out of four guerrilla camps of the Malayan National Liberation Army in the area rebelling against the CPM leadership. In 1970 the Sadao Camp of the 8th MNLA regiment broke away, forming CPM/RF. Later the second district of the 12th MNLA regiment, based at the Betong West Camp, broke away and formed CPM/ML.[5] Both CPM/RF and CPM/ML repeatedly denounced the CPM leader Chin Peng as counter-revolutionary.[1] MCP called on CPM members to join the new party.[1]

The merger of CPM/RF and CPM/ML had been preceded by failed reconciliation talks in Beijing between the CPM and the break-away groups.[5]

Political line

MCP sought to apply Marxism-Leninism to Malaysian conditions.[6] Both of the founding factions of MCP had rejected the application of the Maoist line of encircling the cities from the country-side in Malaysian context, as the peasantry was predominately Malay whilst communist cadres were predominately Chinese.[7] MCP sought to gain support from both Chinese urban workers as well as Malay peasants.[7] MCP called for the building of a people's democratic United Front to defeat 'the reactionary Kuala Lumpur regime'.[8] The party argued that "[t]he reactionary Kuala Lumpur regime is using various means to implement its suppressive, discriminatory, and divide-and-rule policy and is deliberately pitting various groups against one another and destroying the harmony among these groups. Furthermore, they are colluding more actively with foreign monopolistic and capitalistic groups and developing through various means bureaucratic, monopolistic capitalists, accelerating the new economic policy, and crazily confiscating and selling the country's natural resources."[8]

After the founding of the party the adoption of a new party constitution and a party programme for New Democratic Revolution were announced.[6] The latter document, adopted at the first sitting of the MCP Central Committee on 5 December 1983 contained ten points; including the 'overthrow the reactionary regime, bureaucratic capitalists, feudalism and imperialism', establishment of a People's Republic of Malaysia, abolishing 'all reactionary laws', respect of religious freedom, confiscating companies under foreign monopoly capital and bureaucratic monopoly capital, seize lands occupied by big landlords (but not lands owned by wealthy farmers, tani kaya), redistributing already nationalised lands to landless peasants, eradicate forced labour, equality of all nationalities of Malaysia, oppose imperialism and neo-colonialism, upholding proletarian internationalism.[6]

Moreover, whilst CPM insisted on organising in both in the (Malaysian part of) Malaya and Singapore, MCP acknowledged the Malaysian statehood and the political separation between Malaysia and Singapore.[4][7]

Organisation and auxiliary bodies

MCP was estimated to have around 800 fighters, according to Thai military sourced quoted in the Bangkok Post the MCP merger brought together some 500 guerrilla fighters from CPM/ML and some 300 guerrilla fighters from the CPM/RF (whilst the original CPM was estimated to have between 800–1,300 fighters at the time).[1][9] MCP had an armed wing, the Malaysian People's Liberation Army (MPLA).[4] It had a front organisation, named the Malaysian People's Liberation League (previously known as the Malayan People's Liberation Union, the erstwhile front organisation of CPM/ML).[8][10][11]

It ran a clandestine radio broadcast from southern Thailand, named the 'Voice of the People of Malaysia' (previously the 'Voice of the People of Malaya', new name announced 11 December 1983).[10][12][13] The Voice of the People of Malaysia was broadcast in Malay, Standard Chinese, Cantonese and Tamil.[13]

Thai offensive against MPLA

With the establishment of diplomatic relations between Thailand and the People's Republic of China in 1976 and the cessation of Chinese logistic support for the Communist Party of Thailand in 1981, the Thai authorities were emboldened to confront the communist armed forces in the country. A joint military-civilian campaign against the MCP was launched, modelled after a similar campaign against Thai communist insurgents in north-eastern Thailand. In particular the Second MPLA Military District was affected by the Thai campaign.[5] On 28 December 1983, the Thai military announced a joint Malaysian-Thai offensive in the border areas.[14]

In 1984 and 1985 Thai authorities sent out peace feelers to MCP.[5]

Surrender

On 14 April 1987, the Voice of the People of Malaysia announced an agreement between the MPLA and the Thai authorities, whereby MPLA would cease its armed struggle whilst the Thai authorities would respect the 'dignity of [the MPLA] members'. As per the announcement, on 27 and 28 April 1987 some 700 MPLA guerrillas were expected to surrender to the Fourth Army Region of the Royal Thai Army. On 26 April 1987, Voice of the People of Malaysia announced that the radio broadcasts would cease the following day.[15]

Notably the agreement to cease hostilities was done between the two military forces (Second Military District of the MPLA and the Fourth Army Region of the Royal Thai Army respectively), rather than on political level.[5][16] In doing so the Thai government avoided the issue of having accorded legitimacy to a communist insurgent force from a neighbouring country. In exchange for cessation of hostilities MPLA guerrillas were settled in 'friendship villages' in southern Thailand and were given guarantees against deportation to Malaysia.[5][17]

On 28 April 1987, some 542 MPLA guerrillas (537 according to another account) emerged from the jungle.[16][18] 252 of the guerrillas who surrendered were women.[18] They surrendered their equipments to the Thai forces. A reconciliation ceremony was held outside of Betong, presided over by the Commander of the Fourth Army Region Lt.-Gen. Visith Artkhumwong and attended by Thai military and civilian officials.[16][18]

The former MCP/MPLA guerrillas were resettled five peace villages; four along the road between Betong and Yala and one in Sadao.[16]

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References
  1. Mohd. Reduan Hj. Aslie (1993). Pemberontakan bersenjata komunis di Malaysia. Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kementerian Pendidikan, Malaysia. p. 161. ISBN 978-983-62-3892-4.
  2. C. C. Chin; Karl Hack (2004). Dialogues with Chin Peng: New Light on the Malayan Communist Party. NUS Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-9971-69-287-2.
  3. Daily Report: Asia & Pacific. The Service. January 1984. p. 39.
  4. Arthur S. Banks (1 October 1991). Political Handbook of the World 1991. CSA Publications. p. 421. ISBN 978-0-933199-07-1.
  5. Michael John Montesano; Patrick Jory (2008). Thai South and Malay North: Ethnic Interactions on a Plural Peninsula. NUS Press. pp. 192–194. ISBN 978-9971-69-411-1.
  6. Daily Report: Asia & Pacific. The Service. January 1984. pp. 84–86.
  7. Henry W. Degenhardt (1988). Revolutionary and dissident movements: an international guide. Longman. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-582-00986-8.
  8. British Broadcasting Corporation. Monitoring Service (1984). Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East. Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation.
  9. Problems of Communism. Special Materials Section, United States Information Agency. 1985. p. 94.
  10. Yearbook on International Communist Affairs. Yearbook on International Communist Affairs series. Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University. 1987. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-8179-8651-3.
  11. Ong Weichong (3 October 2014). Malaysia's Defeat of Armed Communism: The Second Emergency, 1968-1989. Routledge. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-317-62689-3.
  12. H. V. Hodson (1984). The Annual Register. Longman. p. 280.
  13. Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East. Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. 1986.
  14. New York Times. AROUND THE WORLD; Thailand and Malaysia Attack Border Rebels
  15. Summary of World Broadcasts: Far East. Monitoring Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. 1987.
  16. Journal of Malaysian Studies. Universiti Sains Malaysia. 1987. p. 86.
  17. Richard Crisp (2004). Life as the river flows: women in the Malayan anti-colonial struggle : an oral history of women from Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. SIRD. p. 4. ISBN 978-983-2535-35-5.
  18. Asian Bulletin. APACL Publications. 1987. p. 45.
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