Global Conflict and Security since 1945 Editors: Professor Saki R. Dockrill, King s College London and Dr William Rosenau, RAND Palgrave Macmillan s new book series Global Conflict and Security since 1945 seeks fresh historical perspectives to promote the empirical understanding of global conflict and security issues arising from international law, leadership, politics, multilateral operations, weapons systems and technology, intelligence, civil military relations and societies. The series welcomes original and innovative approaches to the subject by new and established scholars. Possible topics include terrorism, nationalism, civil wars, the Cold War, military and humanitarian interventions, nation-building, pre-emptive attacks, the role of the United Nations and other non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the national security and defence policies of major states. Events in the world since 11 September 2001 remind us that differences of ideology, religion and values and beliefs held by a group of societies or people affect the security of ordinary peoples and different societies often without warning. The series is designed to deepen our understanding of the recent past and seeks to make a significant contribution to the debates on conflict and security in the major world capitals. Advisory Board Members: Professor Mats Berdal, Chair of Security and Development, King s College London, Ambassador James Dobbins, Director International Security and Defence Policy Center, RAND, Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman, Vice Principal (Research), King s College London, Professor Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University and former Director of RAND s Washington Office Titles in the series include: Vesselin Dimitrov STALIN S COLD WAR Soviet Foreign Policy, Democracy and Communism in Bulgaria 1941 48 James Ellison UNITED STATES, BRITAIN AND THE TRANSATLANTIC CRISIS Rising to the Gaullist Challenge, 1963 1968 Peter Lowe CONTENDING WITH NATIONALISM AND COMMUNISM British Policy towards Southeast Asia, 1945 65 Jon Roper THE UNITED STATES AND THE LEGACY OF THE VIETNAM WAR T. O. Smith BRITAIN AND THE ORIGINS OF THE VIETNAM WAR UK Policy in Indo-China, 1943 50
Forthcoming title: Ken Young WEAPONS SYSTEMS AND THE POLITICS OF INTERDEPENDENCE Global Conflict and Security since 1945 Series Standing Order ISBN 978 0 230 52123 0 hardcover (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and one of the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Contending with Nationalism and Communism British Policy towards Southeast Asia, 1945 65 Peter Lowe
Peter Lowe 2009 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-52487-3 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin's Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-35734-5 ISBN 978-0-230-23493-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230234932 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
To the Memory of Evan Edwards (1914 2007)
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Contents Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations List of Maps viii x xii Introduction 1 1 The Return of Colonialism, 1945 48 12 2 The Communist Challenges in Malaya and Indochina 42 3 Two Approaches to Containing Communism: The Colombo Plan and SEATO 73 4 Democracy, Communism and Militarism in Burma, 1948 65 97 5 Ambivalence and Commitment: Vietnam, 1955 65 128 6 Britain, Cambodia and Laos, 1955 65 158 7 Britain, Thailand and the Philippines, 1945 65 188 8 Britain, Indonesia and the Creation of Malaysia, 1959 65 215 Conclusion 246 Appendix: List of British Officials 253 Notes 257 Select Bibliography 292 Index 301 vii
Acknowledgements I wish to thank the University of Manchester for granting me research leave for one semester when I commenced research for this volume. I am particularly grateful to the Leverhulme Trust for awarding me an Emeritus Fellowship for the maximum period of two years, which enabled me to fulfil research in British and American archives. I am also grateful to the institutions and staff in the various places where I researched records. The bulk of my time was spent in the National Archives (formerly Public Record Office), Kew, where the staff provided material efficiently and cheerfully over the years. In addition, I wish to thank the following institutions for granting me access to archives: the Bodleian Library, Oxford, Churchill College, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, the Libraries of the Universities of Birmingham and Southampton, the John F. Kennedy Library, Boston, Massachusetts, the Lyndon B. Johnson Library, Austin, Texas and the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford University, California. I reiterate my customary thanks to the John Rylands University Library of Manchester and, for the first time, it is a pleasure to thank the Hartley Library of the University of Southampton as my new local university. During the lengthy period of research for this volume I have gained from exchanging views with various friends and students and it is a pleasure to thank Sir Hugh Cortazzi, David Dilks, the late Elizabeth Hunter, Matthew Jones, Diego Musitelli, Ian Nish, Adam Rothapel, Sattam al-otaiby and Tony Stockwell. I am most grateful to Palgrave Macmillan for encouragement and support. I have gained considerably from the constructive advice of the anonymous reader and I have implemented all the suggestions for improving the flow of argument. In addition, I wish to underline my gratitude to Saki Dockill and to Michael Strang and Ruth Ireland for editorial guidance. I wish to thank the following publishers for permission to reproduce maps. Map 1 of Burma is reprinted from John F. Cady, A History of Modern Burma. Copyright 1958 by Cornell University; copyright renewed 1986 by John F. Cady. Used by permission of the publisher, Cornell University Press. Map 3 of Malaysia and Indonesia is reprinted from Matthew Jones, Conflict and Confrontation in South East Asia, 1961 1965. Britain, the United States, Indonesia and the Creation of Malaysia (2001), viii
Acknowledgements ix published by Cambridge University Press and used by permission of the publisher. Transcripts/translations of Crown copyright appear by permission of the National Archives, Kew. Finally, I must state that I am alone responsible for errors of commission and omission.
Abbreviations AFPFL ANZAM ANZUS ASA ASEAN BCP BRIAM BSM Cab CAT CCP CIA CO COS CPB CRO Defe DRV EDP FCO FO FRUS GATT ICC ICP ILP IMP JCS JIC JPS JSEAS KMT MAAG MCA MCP MIC Anti-Fascist People s Freedom League Australia, New Zealand, Malaya Australia, New Zealand, United States Association of Southeast Asia Association of Southeast Asian Nations Burma Communist Party British Advisory Mission British Services Mission Cabinet Office papers, National Archives, Kew Civil Air Transport Chinese Communist Party Central Intelligence Agency Colonial Office records, National Archives, Kew Chiefs of Staff Communist Party of Burma Commonwealth Relations Office Ministry of Defence papers, National Archives, Kew Democratic Republic of Vietnam Economic Development Programme Foreign & Commonwealth Office Foreign Office papers, National Archives, Kew Foreign Relations of the United States General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade International Control Commission Indochina Communist Party Independent Labour Party Independence of Malaya Party Joint Chiefs of Staff Joint Intelligence Committee Joint Planning Staff Journal of Southeast Asian Studies Kuomintang Military Assistance Advisory Group Malayan Chinese Association Malayan Communist Party Malayan Indian Congress x
Abbreviations xi MNP NATO NCO NSC NUF OSS PKI PMIP PoWs PRC Prem RAF SACSEA SEAC SEATO TCP UMNO UN USA VNQDD WO Malay Nationalist Party North Atlantic Treaty Organization Non-commissioned officers National Security Council National Unity Front Office of Strategic Services Partei Komunis Indonesia Pan-Malayan Islamic Party Prisoners of war People s Republic of China Prime Minister s Office papers, National Archives, Kew Royal Air Force Supreme Allied Command Southeast Asia Southeast Asia Command Southeast Asia Treaty Organization Technical Cooperation Programme United Malays National Organization United Nations United States of America Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang War Office
List of Maps 1 Burma 113 2 Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand 135 3 Malaysia and Indonesia 244 xii