§ Mr. Harold Daviesasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has considered the request by the Relief Committee for Overseas Chinese Refugees in Malaya to send a mission to investigate the conditions of the Chinese in Malaya; and what reply has been given.
§ Mr. J. GriffithsYes. On 8th March the chairman of a body in Peking styling itself the Relief Committee for Overseas Chinese Refugees from Malaya sent a telegram to the Prime Minister announcing that his Committee had organised an investigation team which would proceed to Malaya to investigate the conditions of suffering overseas Chinese. Arrangements for entry permits were demanded. On 9th March this Relief Committee issued a statement which appeared in the Press in China. It is perhaps sufficient for me to say that this abusive statement is as dishonest and as transparent a Communist propaganda manœuvre as any I have seen. We have nothing to hide but equally we have no intention whatsoever of permitting such a mission now or at a later date to enter Malaya.
There is a free and independent Press in Malaya and the facts of the situation there are known to all. The great majority of Chinese in Malaya are peaceful, contented, and law-abiding citizens. They have nothing to fear except from the terrorist movement, whose object is to create disorder in Malaya and the majority of whose victims have been Chinese. The 11,000 Chinese held in detention camps in Malaya are in the main aliens who have been actively helping the terrorists. They would not be in detention camps now had the Chinese been willing to accept the obligations of a sovereign State to take back its own subjects when they are deported. In conclusion, I think the House should know that numerous messages have been received from Malaya Overseas Chinese requesting that permission for such a mission to visit there should be rejected and expressing their determination to cooperate in the task of resistance to the terrorist movement.