§ 6. Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now recognise the State of Guinea Bissau, formerly Portuguese Guinea.
§ Lord BalnielNo, Sir. It does not meet our criteria for recognition, which have been consistently applied by successive British Governments.
§ Mr. AllaunIs it not a fact that 68 countries have now recognised the new State and that at the United Nations General Assembly only seven voted against? Is it not also a fact that the liberation Government controls two-thirds of the territory in that country?
§ Lord BalnielI do not think that what the hon. Gentleman states as fact is correct. We believe that the PAIGC 1327 falls far short of controlling the major part of Portuguese Guinea, in spite of its claims to do so, nor do we believe that it commands anything like the obedience of the mass of the public. We voted against the United Nations resolution because we cannot accept that a Government can be guilty of illegal occupation of, and acts of aggression against, a territory over which they are sovereign in international law.
§ Mr. Biggs-DavisonIs my right hon. Friend aware that in 1962 I first decided to visit Portuguese Guinea because of claims that the revolution controlled two-thirds of the territory, and it is now 1973? It is a small territory, which the Portuguese could not possibly hold without the consent of the people. They have that consent, because the people are much freer and more prosperous in Guinea Bissau than in Guinea Conakry.
§ Lord BalnielI believe that my hon. Friend is right in his description of the actual physical control in Portuguese Guinea. Our information is that, apart from the sparsely populated area of the Madina Boé region, the Portuguese control the greater part of the territory, as well as the towns and the means of communication.