Chinese politics and political parties in colonial Malaya, 1920-1940 : a study of the Kuomintang and the Malayan Communist Party
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Date
1977
Authors
Leong, Yee Fong
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
The study concentrates on the origins, development and the role of two
Chinese political parties - the Kuomintang and the Malayan Communist Party within
the context of the rising political consciousness of the immigrant
Chinese in colonial Malaya between 1920 and 1940. Divided into main five
chapters, each highlights a facet of Chinese political party developments
and activities while giving attention also to the issues that stimulated
the development of the parties, the strategies involved, the nature of the
local Chinese response and the constraints of the colonial government that
impeded party growth. Chapter one gives the setting in colonial Malaya for the genesis of
overseas Chinese political consciousness. A brief outline survey is made
on the colonial political structure, the evolution of a colonial export
economy which led to the influx of Chinese labourers on a large scale, the
main characteristics of the Chinese immigrant society and the appearance of
the first organised Chinese political groups that came with the arrival of
Chinese political expatriates during the first decade of the 20th century.
In chapter two, the main theme is the development of China-oriented
left-wing politics in the 1920's. The rise of a China-oriented nationalism
had stimulated the introduction of a more radical kind of political groups
and ideologies which affected a small minority of the immigrant Chinese
population. The main issues discussed are: the anarchist movement, the influence of Sun Yat-sen's political leadership in Canton, the proliferation
of left-wing KMT branches and finally, the emergence of the nucleus of a
local Chinese communist group in 1928. !eft-wing politics in the main, was
centred among the Hailam Chinese speech-group, the majority of whom were
night school teachers interested in organising the labouring class.
Chapter three is a detailed survey of the KMT and the MCP between 1928
and 1936. The discussion on the KMT is centred on two main aspects. Firstly,
the reorganisation of moderate KMT branches following the KMT-CCP split in
China in 1927 and the subsequent problems of official recognition and·existence
that resulted from the relationship between party branches and the colonial
government. Secondly, the influence of the KMl' Nationalist Government in
Nanking on the socio-economic institutions of the overseas Chinese in Malaya.
On the MCP, the discussion is centred on the emergence of the party in 1930,
the formation of communist front organisations, the implementation of a multiracial
policy to broaden its base to a pan-Mal~yan party and finally, the
organisational problems and weaknesses that confronted the party.
In chapter four, the overseas Chinese anti-Japanese national salvation
movement between 1937 and 1940 constituted an important period during which
the KMI' in China and its members and supporters in Malaya made use of the
occasion to organise relief fund campaigns and to mobilise overseas Chinese
opinion in support of China's war-efforts against Japan. The MCP also
emerged as the champion of overseas Chinese nationalism and sought to blend
the nationalistic aspirations of the overseas Chinese with the political
interests of the party by organising anti-Japanese societies in Malaya. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the MCP's anti-Japanese
movement as an ~ndication of the flexibility of its party strategy.
In the last chapter, attention is shifted to a discussion of labour
politics in pre-World War Two Malaya. The socio-economic position of
Chinese labour before the onset of the depression in 1930 is examined
briefly as a background to the beginning of labour consciousness in the
1920's when Chinese political influences began to impinge on the Chinese
labouring class especially in the urban areas. The depression period,
considered as a transitional phase, saw a change in the position of
Chinese labour and the MCP was quick to utilise the occasion to intensify
its agitational work and to widen its contacts with Chinese labourers. In
the post-slump period when Chinese labourers began to organise themselves
against their employers, the ·focal point of discussion is centred on the
work of communist agitation in two main areas of Chinese labour unrest.
These were, the rubber tappers' strike in Selangor and Negri Sembilan,
and the coal-workers' strike at Batu Arang in 1937; and the labour
strikes in Singapore that involved largely the skilled workers and the
rubber factory labourers on the eve of the Japanese invasion of Malaya.
Description
Keywords
Chinese political parties between 1920 and 1940