Abstract
This chapter examines how the Federation of Malaya sought to desinicize the national identity of the Malayan Chinese during the Malayan Emergency. Desinicization was aimed at eliminating or diluting a sense of Chineseness amongst the Malayan Chinese, as such sentiments were perceived to represent a potential threat to both national security and national integration in Malaya during the Cold War. In this context, the move towards a desinicized national identity can be interpreted as the colonial state’s response to the Malayan counterinsurgency campaign. Desinicization was achieved through two measures – securitization of the state’s physical borders and Malayanization of the Chinese population. Desinicization also had two implications – securing the loyalty of the Malayan Chinese in the state’s campaign against communist insurgency and allowing the state to prevent extra-territorial claims to allegiance by either the communist or Nationalist Chinese governments.
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