Baling Talks

then mentioned the High Commissioner's announcement in the Legislative Council on 30 November that the British Government no longer considered "the Continuation of the Emergency" as "an obstacle to the Federation's advance to self-government" aimed at the suppression of left wing political movements, especially the Malayan Communist Party (MCP).

It was evident that the Communists, having had ample warning of its declaration, conducted intensive anti-amnesty propaganda in their ranks; among the mass organisations, discipline was tightened and defectors were threatened with severe punishment.

[citation needed] Realizing that his struggles had not come to any fruition, Chin Peng proposed a referendum to the ruling British government alongside many Malayan officials in 1955.

The meeting was intended to pursue a mutual end to the conflict but the Malayan government representatives, led by Tunku Abdul Rahman, dismissed all of Chin Peng's demands.

[citation needed] On being elected as the new President of UMNO in 1951, Tunku Abdul Rahman announced to his supporters his determination to achieve very early self-government in Malaya.

The Tunku's proposal envisaged that, since a more truly national form of government was about to be introduced into the Federation, the Communists could no longer assert that they were fighting against British Imperialism and would be ready to give up the struggle.

Dato' Seri Tan Cheng Lock, then-President of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) echoed the Tunku's sentiment, and even went so far as to publicly volunteer to go into the jungle to negotiate with the Communists.

[citation needed] The public response to the Tunku's proposal was favourable for it gave hope that it would lead to an end of militant communism and relieve the country of the heavy financial commitment of waging the emergency campaign.

The Committee decision was that "terrorists accepting the amnesty should be sent back to People's Republic of China or be rehabilitated and allowed to remain good citizens".

The composition of the working party was to be as follows: the principal Staff Officer to the Director of Operations, Secretary for Defence, a representative of the Attorney-General, Tunku Abdul Rahman, H.S Lee of the Malayan Chinese Association and V.M.

After the meeting, the following press release was issued: The rejection by the Federal Government of the Alliance's proposal for an amnesty was strongly supported by the Manchester Guardian, a British newspaper.

In its editorial, the newspaper commented that an amnesty was appropriate when rebels had lost the desire to continue the struggle with the Government, and in return for the act of oblivion, were willing to become law-abiding citizens again.

The form of amnesty which was proposed by the Alliance seemed to envisage that the Communists would maintain their party organisation intact and would turn their acts of guerrilla warfare to electioneering in a constitutional way.

[citation needed] The Tunku however was not prepared to give way lightly to the shelving of his proposals and the Alliance restated its view on the question of an amnesty in its Election Manifesto issues in May 1955.

It was thought that MCP leaders realised that they were slowly and steadily losing ground to the Security Forces and wished to concentrate their main efforts on subversion.

The proposal for amnesty talks put forward by the Alliance in January was hence unacceptable to the Communist leaders because it did not seem to allow them to roam at will in the Federation; instead they were facing prospects of either a long period in detention, or deportation to the People's Republic of China.

Having rejected the Communist's proposal, the Director of the Operations Committee thought that it would be necessary to take a positive step to show that the government was doing everything in its power to end the emergency.

[citation needed] The talks commenced in the Government English School (now as Sekolah Kebangsaan Tunku Putera) near Baling town in southeastern Kedah state, in northern Malaya, on 28 December 1955.

He then detailed the political changes which had been taking place in Malaya and explained that his election victory was based on the promise that "colonialism must end and that this country must be given freedom."

He then mentioned the High Commissioner's announcement in the Legislative Council on 30 November that the British Government no longer considered "the Continuation of the Emergency" as "an obstacle to the Federation's advance to self-government".

The Tunku also reminded Chin Peng that he did not come to the meeting as a spokesman for the British Government, he came "neither as the stooge or running dog of colonialism" but as a "servant of the people".

[citation needed] Chin Peng explained that he had not come to the meeting to argue questions of ideology but to search for peace "so that the misery of the people can be reduced".

Chin Peng pointed out the MCP rejected the amnesty offer because it did not permit Communists to "enjoy equal status so that those that genuinely intended to be loyal to the Government would be helped to regain their normal position in society."

Chin Peng then mentioned the past statement by the Tunku that if the MCP stopped the armed struggle, then they could enjoy a status that would enable them to fight for independence by constitutional means.

[citation needed] To this the Tunku replied that the amnesty specifically declared that Communists who gave up communism and showed that they genuinely intended to be loyal to the government would be "helped to regain their normal position in society".

Dato Sir Tan Cheng-Lock added that if a man wanted to live in Malaya, he should assume the responsibilities and duties of a good citizen.

That is why they wanted the question of the recognition of the MCP to be settled"[citation needed] Then Tunku said that he was not asking Communist to give up their ideology- "one's ideology is what one believes in" - but their activities were something quite different.

Chin Peng came back time and again to the points on which the Communists insisted: recognition of the MCP, no detention, no investigation and no restriction on their movements after surrender.

[citation needed] The delegations met again at 10.30 the next morning, but from the very beginning, Chin Peng continued his cardinal requests for political recognition of his party and freedom for its members.

The Chief Minister, before leaving, then appealed to Chin Peng to think of the general welfare of the people and informed him that if, in the near future, the Communists were prepared to show any change of attitude, they would not consider their pride in coming to meet him again.