Asian Socialist Conference
 |
|
| Formation | 1953 |
|---|---|
| Extinction | 1960 |
| Headquarters | 4, Wingaba Road, Rangoon, Burma |
|
Membership
|
500,000 (1956) |
|
Chairman
|
Ba Swe |
The Asian Socialist Conference was an organisation of socialist political parties in Asia, that existed between 1953 and 1960. It had its headquarters in Rangoon, Burma, and the Burmese socialist leader Ba Swe served as the Chairman of the organisation. Two Asian Socialist Conferences were held, in Rangoon in 1953 and Bombay in 1956. As of 1956, the member parties of ASC had a combined membership of about 500,000.
The Burma Socialist Party had expressed a wish for cooperation with other Asian socialists as early as 1946. At that time, the party was in the midst of the anti-colonial struggle, and hoped for cooperation with other Asian socialists against a common enemy. On the occasion of the Asian Relations Conference, held in Delhi in 1947, leading members of the Socialist Parties of Burma, India and Indonesia, at an informal meeting, discussed the need and the possibility of the Socialist Parties of Asia meeting to discuss common problems and exchange experience. Subsequently, informal meetings between Burmese, Indian and Indonesian socialists were held in connection with the Asian Regional Conference of the International Labour Organization in Delhi in December 1951. At Delhi, it was agreed on that a committee for the holding of an Asian Socialist Conference would be formed consisting of representatives of India, Burma, Indonesia, Malaya, Siam, Vietnam, Korea and the Philippines (the Japanese would be invited as observers). The proposed committee would have its headquarters in Rangoon. However, these plans did not materialise as agreed and it would take several years until such an organisation of Asian socialist parties would take form.
When the Socialist International was founded in 1951, some Asian socialists considered that the new organisation was too Eurocentric. Thus they felt that there was a need for an organised form of cooperation between Asian socialist parties. In September 1951, representatives of the Socialist Party of India (later the Praja Socialist Party) and the Japanese Socialist Party had a meeting in Tokyo. A joint statement was adopted, calling for a conference of Asian socialist parties. In December 1951, representatives of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon and met the Socialist Party of India in Delhi, and a joint manifesto calling for Asian socialist cooperation was adopted.
...
Wikipedia