HC Deb 18 February 1959 vol 600 c366
46. Mr. Baird

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware that a recent report of the International Control Commission in Vietnam announced that it had been possible to arrange for the exchange of postcards between South and North Vietnam on certain festivals; and what steps the Commission are now taking to secure the reintroduction of normal postal facilities between the two halves of the country.

Mr. R. Allan

My right hon. and learned Friend has not received, nor been informed, of any such report.

Mr. Baird

Does the hon. Gentleman realise that, apart from occasional letters, there are no postal facilities between the North and the South? Is not it the function of the Foreign Secretary, as Chairman of the Geneva Conference, to see if something can be done to introduce a more civilised relationship between North and South Vietnam so that the people can write to each other?

Mr. Allan

The latest information we have is that, over a recent holiday period, 500,000 postcards went from North to South, and 350,000 from South to North