29. Mr. Baker Whiteasked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that a British ship of the Moller Line on charter has sailed from Rotterdam via Aden and Hong Kong for Tientsin with a cargo of scientific instruments, cameras and microscopes; and 397 what action His Majesty's Government proposes to take in this matter.
§ Sir H. ShawcrossI was not aware of the shipment to which the hon. Member refers, but as at present advised I should not propose to interfere with cargoes lawfully exported by a friendly State to China merely because they are being carried in a British ship. Nor have I any reason to believe that any exports consigned from the Netherlands to China would include strategic materials.
Mr. Baker WhiteIs the right hon. and learned Gentleman satisfied that this ship, the "Alpha Orient," which passed Colombo on 24th May, does not contain any air photographic cameras or photographic material suitable for use in military aircraft?
§ Sir H. ShawcrossI am not in a position to give the details of a cargo which was not loaded in a British port, but I have no reason whatever to think that cargoes loaded from the Netherlands would include strategic materials.
UNITED KINGDOM EXPORTS TO COUNTRIES IN EASTERN EUROPE* OF MINING MACHINERY OTHER THAN PORTABLE POWER TOOLS | ||||||||
1949 | 1950 | 1951 January-April | ||||||
Cwt. | £ | Cwt. | £ | Cwt. | £ | |||
Czechoslovakia | … | … | 4,093 | 90,333 | 4,636 | 132,745 | 373 | 11,044 |
Soviet Union | … | … | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Finland | … | … | 489 | 7,689 | 64 | 1,391 | 3 | 216 |
Poland | … | … | 44,106 | 655,496 | 37,216 | 572,720 | 7,828 | 127,367 |
Hungary | … | … | 1,255 | 13,945 | 80 | 1,764 | — | — |
Yugoslavia | … | … | 509 | 5,222 | 732 | 5,281 | — | — |
Roumania | … | … | 8 | 589 | — | — | — | — |
Total, East European countries | 50,460 | 773,274 | 42,728 | 713,901 | 8,204 | 138,627 | ||
* Including Finland and Yugoslavia. |
§ There were no exports to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Albania or Bulgaria, or after 1950 to the Soviet zone of Eastern Germany. For the latter no separate figures are available prior to 1951.