§ 3.15 p.m.
§ Lord Mackie of BenshieMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are prepared to promote action to supplement the meagre response by the EEC to an informal Chinese request for famine relief.
§ The Earl of AvonMy Lords, the Government have no plans to do so. A formal appeal has only just been launched by the United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation.
§ Lord Mackie of BenshieMy Lords, is the Minister aware that the amount of help offered was £2.7 million and that compares with something in the region of £120 million being offered to help Poland, which is right and proper? In view of the fact that China's relations with the West are constantly improving, would it not be right and proper for the Government to push forward the suggested conference of donors under the auspices of the United Nations in order to help China in her great difficulties?
§ The Earl of AvonMy Lords, the aid was agreed and will take the form of 8,000 tonnes of rapeseed oil and 2,000 tonnes of dried skimmed milk. The scale of the disaster in China is enormous. Almost any imaginable European Community response from within existing European Community aid allocations would appear modest in relation to the size of the problem. The appeal has only just been launched. The United Nations Disaster Relief Organisation has approached some 24 donors. It will be up to that organisation to evaluate a response.
§ The Earl of OnslowMy Lords, would it not be much better if, instead of sending this rather small tonnage of rapeseed oil to China, which is not posing a threat to anybody, we were to send to China the amount of butter which we send to Russia, or similar products to China rather than to Russia?
§ The Earl of AvonMy Lords, I think that the important factor is to show that we care, and the European Community response has demonstrated just that.