§ Mr. Eldon Griffithsasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, what further information he has received about the detention in China of the British engineer, Mr. Peter Watt.
§ Mr. William RodgersAs my right hon. Friend informed the hon. Member for Richmond, Surrey (Mr. A. Royle) on 20th March, Mr. Watt was sentenced to three years imprisonment on charges of spying. Despite continued representations in Peking, the Chinese authorities have still not supplied details of those charges or granted consular access to Mr. Watt. I raised the case of Mr. Watt, among others, when I summoned the Chinese Chargé d'Affairesad interim on 5th April and made it clear we regarded the Chinese failure to supply 249W information or grant access as inhumane and entirely contrary to accepted international practice. We shall continue to press the Chinese for information and access.—[Vol. 761, c. 422–4.]