§ 3. Mr. Awberyasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will take steps to initiate negotiations in Malaya following the precedent of the negotiations in conjunction with "General China" in Kenya for the purpose of bringing the jungle war to an end.
§ Mr. HopkinsonNo, Sir.
§ Mr. AwberyIs the Minister aware that this kind of warfare can go on for 20 years unless something is done, apart from military action, to bring it to an end. These people must be met at some time and in some way, and the sooner they are met, and an end brought to 1754 this state of affairs in Malaya, the better. Will the Minister do what he can to speed up action and bring this business to an end?
§ Mr. HopkinsonI can assure the hon. Gentleman that every attempt is being made to bring this emergency to a conclusion as rapidly as possible, but we do not believe that any plan for mass surrender, on the lines of that which we carried out in the case of the negotiations with the so-called "General China" last year, would be effective in Malaya.
§ Mr. AwberyCannot methods be adopted, other than military methods, to bring this about?
§ Mr. HopkinsonThere is an open invitation to individual members of the Malayan Communist Party to come forward, and there have already been 1,000 surrenders. This is operating the whole time.