§ 2. Mr. Mathewasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why 38 Chinese refugees are to be repatriated to the Chinese mainland by the British authorities in Hong Kong.
§ Mrs. WhiteI refer the hon. Member to my right hon. Friend's reply on 24th June to the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Sir W. Teeling).
§ Mr. MathewYes, but is the hon. Lady aware that, although no request was made until the day after they had been hurried back to China, it appears that no steps were taken to find out whether there were 749 politically suspect to the Communist authorities and in whose case, therefore, return to China would be tantamount to a sentence of death, or any attempt made to offer them facilities to go elsewhere than Hong Kong, such as Formosa, facilities which we now know did exist?
§ Mrs. WhiteMy information is that the persons concerned did not claim political asylum and not one of them made any request to go to Formosa.