§ Sir David SteelTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will seek to persuade the Chinese authorities to admit the delegations from Austria, the United States Senate and Australia, to investigate alleged human rights violations in Tibet: and whether he will also seek agreement for a delegation from the United Kingdom to visit Tibet for this purpose.
§ Mr. GoodladIt is for the Governments concerned to approach the Chinese authorities. They have agreed to receive a human rights delegation led by Lord Howe later this year. Timing, itinerary, and other details have yet to be decided.
§ Sir Russell JohnstonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has about violations of the freedom of religion in Tibet; and how many monks and nuns have been killed, detained and sentenced to terms of imprisonment for political offences in each of the years 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1992 to date.
§ Mr. GoodladInformation of this kind comes mainly from the findings of organisations such as Amnesty International and Asia Watch. We have no independent corroboration of these disturbing reports. We take every opportunity to express to the Chinese our deep concern about human rights abuses in China, including Tibet.