HL Deb 04 February 1974 vol 349 cc700-1WA
LORD KENNET

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What territorial waters are claimed by the Kingdom of Tonga; whether the claim has been communicated to the United Nations; and, if so, what observations were made thereon by Her Majesty's Government.

THE MINISTER OF STATE, FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (BARONESS TWEEDSMUIR OF BELHELVIE)

The King of Tonga proclaimed in 1887Our Kingdom of Tonga, all islands, rocks, reefs, foreshores and waters lying between the fifteenth and twenty-third and a half degrees of South Latitude, and between one hundred and seventy-third and the one hundred and seventy-seventh degrees of West Longitude from the Meridian of Greenwich". Her Majesty's Government do not recognise the reference to "waters in this proclamation as a valid claim to territorial waters. Her Majesty's Government are not aware of any communication by the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations on the subject of her claim to territorial waters.