Although the communists co-operated with the British to fight the Japanese during the Japanese Occupation (1942-1945), they never lost sight of their aim to overthrow the British and set up a communist state in Malaya.
In 1947, a local Chinese called Chin Peng became the new hard-line secretary-general of the MCP and he began an armed and violent struggle to seize power through industrial disputes, as well as attacks on mining and estate personnel. The communists attacked police stations, derailed trains, murdered people who were against them, destroyed rubber plantations, burnt workers' houses, attacked armed convoys and forced squatters to contribute supplies of food and other necessities.
In response to this threat, the British declared a state of emergency in June 1948. During the next 12 years, known as the 'Emergency', strict measures were imposed to suppress the communists.