§ Mr. Carterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will have an investigation made into the affairs of the Hong Kong Police.
§ Mr. BlakerNo. The hon. Member will, of course, know that the Governor recently appointed an independent Anti-Corruption Commission.
§ Mr. Carterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when was the last occasion that a British Minister made an official visit to Hong Kong to discuss the territory's internal affairs.
§ Mr. BlakerMy predecessor visited Hong Kong from 10th–15th November 1972. Since then a number of other Ministers have paid short visits to the colony for different purposes. I myself visited Hong Kong from 27th September-1st October 1973 in my former capacity as Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Army. As the House is aware, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister had intended to visit Hong Kong as well as China this month ; but, as he informed the House on 18th December, he had to postpone the visit.—[Vol. 866, c. 1165.]
§ Mr. Carterasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will call for an investigation into the death of Mr. Kwan Kung who was killed in an accident involving a car on 29th July 1973 in Argyle Street, Hong Kong and the subsequent refusal of the police to prosecute the driver of the car.
§ Mr. BlakerNo. The accident was investigated by the Hong Kong Police, who found no evidence of any offence by the driver. The police passed all documents in the case to the coroner, who decided that no death inquiry was necessary. The Hong Kong legal department also studied the papers and agreed with the conclusions of the coroner and the police. I will be writing to the hon. Member with further information on this case.