Communist insurgency in Malaysia (1968–1989)

Communist insurgency in Malaysia
	Part of the Cold War and continuation of the Malayan Emergency
	; Sarawak Rangers (present-day part of the Malaysian Rangers) consisting of Ibans leap from a Royal Australian Air Force Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter to guard the Malay–Thai border from potential Communist attacks in 1965, three years before the war starting in 1968.
Date	17 June 1968 – 2 December 1989; (21 years, 5 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Location	Malay Peninsula and Sarawak
Result	Peace agreement reached Communists agree to a ceasefire; Peace Agreement of Hat Yai signed between the communists and the governments of Malaysia and Thailand; Dissolution of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP); Insurgency continues in Sarawak until 1990;
Belligerents
Anti-communist forces:; Malaysia; Singapore; Thailand; Supported by:; United Kingdom; New Zealand; United States; Indonesia (from 1965);	Communist forces:; Malayan Communist Party Malayan National Liberation Army; Communist Party of Malaya/Revolutionary Faction (1970–1983); Communist Party of Malaya/Marxist–Leninist (1974–1983); Malaysian Communist Party (1983–1987); North Kalimantan Communist Party; Communist Party of Thailand (until 1983); Supported by:; China (until 1976); Soviet Union; Indonesia (1962–1965);
Commanders and leaders
Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah (1968–1970); Tuanku Abdul Halim (1970–1975); Yahya Petra of Kelantan (1975–1979); Ahmad Shah of Pahang (1979–1984); Iskandar of Johor (1984–1989); Azlan Shah of Perak (1989); Tunku Abdul Rahman; Abdul Razak Hussein; Hussein Onn; Mahathir Mohamad; Yusof Ishak; Benjamin Sheares; Devan Nair; Wee Kim Wee; Lee Kuan Yew; Bhumibol Adulyadej; Thanom Kittikachorn (until 1973); Seni Pramoj (1975; 1976); Kukrit Pramoj (1975–1976); Kriangsak Chamanan (1977–1980); Prem Tinsulanonda (1980–1988); Chatichai Choonhavan (1988–1989);	Chin Peng; Abdullah CD; Lee An Tong; Chang Ling-Yun; Wu Yi Shek; Rashid Maidin; Wen Ming Chyuan; Lam Wah Kwai; Bong Kee Chok; Ang Cho Teng; Phayom Chulanont #;
Strength
	8,000; 1,000
Casualties and losses
155 killed; 854 wounded	212 killed; 150 captured; 117 surrendered

The Communist insurgency in Malaysia, also known as the Second Malayan Emergency (Malay: Perang insurgensi melawan pengganas komunis or Darurat Kedua), was an armed conflict which occurred in Malaysia from 1968 to 1989, between the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and Malaysian federal security forces.

Following the end of the Malayan Emergency in 1960, the predominantly ethnic Chinese Malayan National Liberation Army, armed wing of the MCP, had retreated to the Malaysian-Thailand border where it had regrouped and retrained for future offensives against the Malaysian government. Hostilities officially re-ignited when the MCP ambushed security forces in Kroh–Betong, in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia, on 17 June 1968. The conflict also coincided with renewed domestic tensions between ethnic Malays and Chinese in Peninsular Malaysia and regional military tensions due to the Vietnam War.

The Malayan Communist Party received some support from the People's Republic of China. The support ended when the governments of Malaysia and China established diplomatic relations in June 1974. In 1970, the MCP experienced a schism which led to the emergence of two breakaway factions: the Communist Party of Malaya/Marxist–Leninist (CPM/ML) and the Communist Party of Malaya/Revolutionary Faction (CPM–RF). Despite efforts to make the MCP appeal to ethnic Malays, the organisation was dominated by Chinese Malaysians throughout the war. Instead of declaring a "state of emergency" as the British had done previously, the Malaysian government responded to the insurgency by introducing several policy initiatives including the Security and Development Program (KESBAN), Rukun Tetangga (Neighbourhood Watch), and the RELA Corps (People's Volunteer Group).

The insurgency ended on 2 December 1989 when the MCP signed a peace accord with the Malaysian government at Hat Yai in southern Thailand. This coincided with the Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of several prominent communist regimes worldwide. Besides the fighting on the Malay Peninsula, another communist insurgency also occurred in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in the island of Borneo, which had been incorporated into the Federation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

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