Editing Malayan Emergency (section)

===Baling Talks and their consequences===
{{Main|Baling Talks}}
[[File:Malya Emergency British Artillery.jpg|thumb|left|British artillery firing on MNLA guerrillas in the Malayan jungle, 1955]]
In 1955 Chin Peng indicated that he would be willing to meet with British officials alongside senior Malayan politicians. The result of this was the Baling Talks, a meeting which took place between communist and Commonwealth forces to debate a peace treaty. The Baling Talks took place inside an English School in [[Baling]] on 28 December 1955. The MCP and MNLA was represented by [[Chin Peng]], [[Rashid Maidin]], and [[Chen Tien]]. The Commonwealth forces were represented by [[Tunku Abdul Rahman]], [[Tan Cheng Lock|Tan Cheng-Lock]] and [[David Marshall (Singaporean politician)|David Saul Marshall]].{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}} Despite the meeting being conducted successfully, the British forces were worried that a peace treaty with the MCP would lead to communist activists regaining influence in society. As a result, many of Chin Peng's demands were dismissed.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

Following the failure of the talks, Tunku Abdul Rahman withdrew the amnesty offers for MNLA members on 8 February 1956, five months after they had been offered, stating he was unwilling to meet the communists again unless they indicated beforehand their intention to make "a complete surrender".<ref>MacGillivray to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 15 March 1956, CO1030/22</ref>

Following the failure of the Baling Talks, the MCP made various efforts to resume peace negotiations with the Malayan government, all without success. Meanwhile, discussions began in the new Emergency Operations Council to intensify the "People's War" against the guerrillas. In July 1957, a few weeks before independence, the MCP made another attempt at peace talks, suggesting the following conditions for a negotiated peace:{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}
* its members should be given privileges enjoyed by citizens
* a guarantee that political as well as armed members of the MCP would not be punished

The failure of the talks affected MCP policy. The strength of the MNLA and 'Min Yuen' declined to 1830 members in August 1957. Those who remained faced exile, or death in the jungle. However, Tunku Abdul Rahman did not respond to the MCP's proposals. Following the declaration of Malaya's independence in August 1957, the MNLA lost its rationale as a force of colonial liberation.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

The last serious resistance from MNLA guerrillas ended with a surrender in the [[Telok Anson]] marsh area in 1958. The remaining MNLA forces fled to the [[Thailand|Thai border]] and further east. On 31 July 1960 the Malayan government declared the state of emergency over, and Chin Peng left south Thailand for Beijing where he was accommodated by the Chinese authorities in the International Liaison Bureau, where many other Southeast Asian Communist Party leaders were housed.<ref>Garver, J. W. (2016). China's Quest: The History of the Foreign Relations of the People's Republic of China. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp 216</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Former communist leader dies |language=en |work=Bangkok Post |date=17 September 2013 |url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/370041/former-communist-leader-dies |access-date=4 January 2023 |last1=Ashayagachat |first1=Achara }}</ref>