§ 42. Mr. G. R. Howardasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how long it will be before the claim of Lieut.-Commander Selby, Royal Navy, which has been registered as Claim No. 2282 with the War Damage Office in Shanghai, will be met; and by whom.
§ Mr. YoungerAs regards that part of Lieut.-Commander Selby's claim which arose in Hong Kong, I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply given on 23rd February, 1949, in which it was stated 891 that no compensation in respect of general war damage is being paid from Hong Kong Government funds. As regards the part of the claim which arose in China, the Government of China have refused to accept liability. Whether the Government of Japan, under the peace treaty, are to be obliged to pay general compensation is still under examination.
§ Mr. HowardIn view of the fact that this claim has caused considerable hardship to Lieut.-Commander Selby, and several others, would the hon. Gentleman say whether the Government could meet it and then try to get the money out of the Japanese afterwards? Failing that, could not the hon. Gentleman make representations to the Minister of Food to stop the importation of Japanese pilchards until claims like this are met?
§ Mr. YoungerI do not think that Japanese pilchards come into this Question. We have done our best to give advice to Lieut.-Commander Selby, and there is one possible avenue, a Board of Trade scheme, which we are at present exploring. I could not go into the general question raised by the hon. Gentleman's supplementary.