HC Deb 25 October 1954 vol 531 cc1596-7
47. Mr. Wyatt

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what replies he has received from the Chinese Government to his inquiries as to the whereabouts of Mr. Robert Ford, who was arrested by the Chinese in Tibet in 1950.

Mr. Turton

Mr. Ford is understood to be in prison at Chungking. In September of this year a Chinese official informed Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires at Peking that Mr. Ford had been found guilty of charges of espionage and complicity in a plot which is said to have led to the death of a Tibetan Lama, and that he awaits sentence.

Mr. Wyatt

Is the minister satisfied that Mr. Ford had a fair trial? What is he doing to find out whether Mr. Ford had a fair trial, and what is the background of this case?

Mr. Turton

My right hon. Friend took up this matter with the Chinese Delegation at the recent Geneva Conference, and the representative of the Chinese delegation agreed to take into account the representations which he made. Since that date Mr. Ford has been permitted to correspond with his parents.

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