§ 68. Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to visit Hanoi to discuss development aid with the Vietnamese Government.
§ Mrs. ChalkerMy right hon. Friend has no immediate plans to do so.
§ Mr. WareingIn view of the answers that the right hon. Lady has already given about Vietnam, is it not about time that she made arrangements to visit Hanoi? This country is already giving aid to some pretty rotten regimes so there is no excuse for following lamely in the footsteps of the United States of America on this. Does the Minister agree that if we took a real lead in giving unilateral aid to Vietnam we might have a stronger influence on that country in terms of bringing it forward in a more democratic spirit?
§ Mrs. ChalkerI was answering in the name of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. I, too, have no immediate plans to visit Hanoi. I hope that progress can be made on the issues raised by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. We are certainly pursuing our own plan with Vietnam and not following in anybody's footsteps.