HC Deb 22 January 1990 vol 165 cc523-4W
Dr. Thomas

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy,Official Report, 11 January, column 697, who gave the authorisation for force to be used against the boat people in Hong Kong.

Mr. Maude

Authority to use the minimum degree of force necessary during the operation to search for weapons in the Chi Ma Wan detention centre on Lantau island on 29 December 1989 was given by Police General Orders 29-01, made by the Commissioner of Police under section 46 of the Police Force Ordinance.

112. Mr. Parry

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his recent visit to Hong Kong.

Mr. Maude

I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs made in the House on 17 January at col. 291.

Mr. Marlow

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what level of secondary immigration he would anticipate to arise from primary immigration of 225,000 on the basis of past experience.

Mr. Peter Lloyd

[holding answer 12 January 1990]: I have been asked to reply.

Experience in other contexts cannot be a basis for assessing the implications of the scheme to grant British citizenship to people in Hong Kong in a unique arrangement intended to give beneficiaries the confidence to remain there.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs at what time, on what day and by what means the Swiss Government were informed of the British Government's decision to enter an exemption to the ivory ban on behalf of Hong Kong; and when the CITES Secretariat learnt of the decision.

Mr. Waldegrave

The reservation was deposited with the Government of the Swiss Confederation at 10 am on Wednesday 17 January by the delivery of diplomatic notes to the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Berne and to the embassy of Switzerland in London. Notification of our decision was faxed to the CITES Secretariat by the Department of the Environment at 4.50 pm on 17 January.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with representatives of the ivory trade during his recent visit to Hong Kong.

Mr. Maude

None.

Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation he has received during the last three months regarding the fate of the Hong Kong ivory stocks.

Mr. Waldegrave

We received a number of representations over the past three months, both in favour and against the entering of a reservation on behalf of Hong Kong. We took all these into consideration. We received no formal representations from other countries.

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