Chin Peng

Chin Peng ( Chinese  陳平 , Pinyin Chén Píng ; real name probably Ong Boon Hua Chinese  王文華 , Pinyin Wáng Wénhuá ; * 1922 in Sitiawan , Malaya ; † September 16, 2013 in Bangkok , Thailand ) was a Malaysian politician and independence fighter . From March 1947 he was head of the Malaya Communist Party for many years . He followed Loi Tack , who had been exposed as a double agent after he had disappeared with the party coffers. As a staunch opponent of colonialism , he played a leading role in fighting the British in the country.

Life

Chin Peng received the Order of the British Empire for his work against the Japanese. He became party leader at the beginning of the Cold War and was confirmed in office in March 1948, when the party decided to protest massively against the British occupation. The growing violence caused the British to declare a state of emergency as early as June . The uprising was largely contained in the mid-1950s, but considerable forces had formed anew in the north of the country on the border with Thailand . In November 1955, Chin Peng indicated willingness to negotiate with the elected governments of Malaya and Singapore . In the following month, the Baling talks with Tunku Abdul Rahman ( Malaysia ) and David Saul Marshall (Singapore) took place near the Thai border , but there were no results. Chin Peng offered to end the uprising, but wanted to legalize the Communist Party, which was flatly rejected.

Chin Peng returned underground, but the movement lost some of its penetrative power, so the state of emergency could be lifted. Chin Peng went into hiding with parts of his troops in southern Thailand . At the end of 1960 he went to Beijing , where he stayed for many years. From the south of China he started a secret radio station that broadcast as far as Malaysia.

In the 1970s the party split into three factions. There were rumors that Chin Peng had been replaced as general secretary. On December 2, 1989, Chin Peng was seen in the southern city of Hat Yai , in good health and in a suit, conferring with representatives of the Thai and Malaysian governments. He signed two peace agreements, laying down arms but not dissolving the party.

In early 2000, Chin Peng applied to return to Malaysia, which turned out to be a complex legal issue. Eventually his request was rejected by the Supreme Court in 2005.

In 2006 the Malaysian journalist and filmmaker Amir Muhammad shot a documentary about Chin Peng's life entitled The Last Communist , which was also shown at the Berlinale .

literature

• Chin Peng, My Side of History . 2003, ISBN 981-04-8693-6 .
• Ruslan of Malaysia: The Man Behind the Domino That Didn't Fall . 2007, ISBN 978-0-9780562-0-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Michael Leifer: Dictionary of the modern politics of South-East Asia . London: Routledge 1996. ISBN 0-415-13821-3 . Keyword: Chin Peng .
2. ↑ Douglas Martin: Chin Peng, Malaysian Rebel, Dies at 88. Obituary in the New York Times , September 16, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.