HC Deb 08 July 1968 vol 768 cc4-6W
45. Sir W. Teeling

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many British subjects are now known to be detained by the Chinese mainland Government; how many British subjects are unaccounted for in China or in shipping off the coast or are suspected to be in detention; and what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking by way of representations or retaliation.

57. Mr. McMaster

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what further protests he has made to the Chinese Government relating to the imprisonment without trial of a number of British subjects: and what steps he plans to take to obtain proper access to these persons by British diplomatic officers in China.

Mr. M. Stewart

My hon. Friend the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State gave details of British subjects detained or otherwise unaccounted for in China in reply to a Question by the hon. Member for Bury St. Edmunds (Mr. Eldon Griffiths) on 29th May. He also dealt with the subject in the course of an Adjournment debate on 13th June.

Since then two British subjects, Mr. D. V. Jones and Captain R. V. Pope, have been deported from China; and we have learned that the family of Mr. Crook are at liberty. One further British subject, Captain P. M. Will, was detained at Tangku near Tientsin, according to our information, on 3rd June.

Formal representations have recently been made about all British subjects known and believed to be in difficulties in China We shall continue to press for information and for consular access to them.—[Vol. 765, c. 244–5; Vol. 766, c. 577–83.]

56. Mr. McMaster

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what progress he has made with his representations to the Chinese Government to secure the release of George Watt and full details of the charges laid against him in the course of his trial, and obtain the right of immediate diplomatic access to him and some path of communication between Mr. Watt and his family in the United Kingdom.

Mr. M. Stewart

The last formal approach to the Chinese authorities about Mr. Watt was made by the British Mission in Peking on 13th June, when they requested details of the charges against him and asked for Consular access. A letter from Mrs. Watt to her husband was forwarded with the request that Mr. Watt be allowed to answer it. No reply to these representations has yet been received.

On 5th July it was reported (by the British Mission) that a Peking court had annulled the contract of Mr. Watt's employers, Vickers-Zimmer, and ordered their staff to leave China within 10 days. It is not yet known how this may affect Mr. Watt. The British Chargé d'Affaires in Peking is seeking urgent clarification from the Chinese authorities.