§ 2.36 p.m.
§ LORD VANSITTARTMy Lords, I beg to ask the first Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows.
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government: (1) whether the Viet Minh have violated the Geneva pact, and if so in what respects; (2) whether they have increased their forces by three further divisions two of them armoured, and all equipped by the Chinese.]
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (THE MARQUESS OF READING)My Lords, as regards the first part of the Question, no violation of the three agreements on the cessation of hostilities in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam has been reported by the respective International Supervisory Commissions, though difficulties have arisen in the execution of these agreements, notably regarding the administration of the two northern provinces of Laos and the evacuation of refugees from northern Vietnam.
As regards the second part of the Question, Her Majesty's Government are not aware of the existence of any Vietminh armoured divisions. The Vietminh will probably have twice as many regular field formations by the end of the year as they had at the time of the Geneva settlement, and these have most probably been largely equipped with material supplied at some stage by China. But Her Majesty's Government are not in a position to state whether this material was introduced before or after the coming into force of the prohibition imposed by the agreement on the cessation of hostilities.
§ LORD VANSITTARTMy Lords, I thank the noble Marquess for his reply; I have no supplementary question to ask.