In January 1947, Rashid Maidin was tasked to attend the (British) Empire's Communist Conference held in London. The Communist Party of Malaya (CPM) delegation included Wu Tien Wang and RG Balan. According to Rashid, the trip by ship took them two months.

"We embarked in Singapore, travelled first to India, stopped at an Indian port for a few days and then went on...We returned and disembarked also in Singapore," Rashid recalled.

"At first, I hesitated to go because I thought my English was not good enough for an international conference but Chin Peng said I was better than others and it would be okay as I could improve it by practicing ... so I went."

Why did Rashid and his fellow delegates do in London besides attending the conference?

"We went around sightseeing with comrades from Asian countries like the Indians ... no, we did not go to naughty places...

The conference, said Rashid, was focused on discussing the post-war future of British colonies.

According to historian Cheah Boon Kheng in his book The Masked Comrades - A Study of the Communist United Front in Malaya, 1945-1948 (Singapore, Times 1979), the chief of CPM's delegation, Wu Tien Wang, "presented a report on Malaya to the conference, in which he recounted the constitutional struggles of the 'democratic movement' in Malaya, including the CPM, MDU (Malayan Democratic Union) and MNP (Malay National Party), and attacked the repressive measures of the British authorities towards the movement, particularly towards the CPM."