§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the assistance given by the United Nations Population Fund in helping China organise censuses and demographic surveys; and if the data acquired from such activities have been or can be used for targeting areas for population control. [32020]
§ Mr. HanleyThe United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, assisted with China's 1980 and 1990 censuses, providing equipment, technical advice on data tabulation606W and analysis and training abroad at places such as the United States Bureau of Census. Census data in China, as in all other countries, are used as the basis for the Government's development plans. UNFPA's assistance is a basis for encouraging the development of humane population policies in China. It is not provided with the intention of supporting or sanctioning any particular aspect of current Chinese population policy, or its interpretation.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when delegations from Her Majesty's Government have investigated Chinese population policies since 1979; and what conclusions were reached. [32015]
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§ Mr. HanleyLord Howe led an official delegation to China in December 1992 to look at human rights issues. The mission noted the growing attention paid by the Chinese authorities to international concerns about human rights and welcomed their willingness to continue the dialogue on human rights issues with any subsequent missions.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the number of individual associations within the Chinese family planning association; and what figures exist for the number of household links established by the CFPA. [32011]
§ Mr. HanleyWe understand from the International Planned Parenthood Federation that the China Family Planning Association, CFPA, consists of about 915,000 individual associations. We do not have reliable information on the number of household links established by the CFPA.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the date at which it first became obligatory under Chinese law to have intrauterine devices inserted after a first child; and what estimates he has on the number of IUD insertions since that date. [32019]
§ Mr. HanleyWe understand that there is no Chinese national law making it obligatory to insert IUDs after a first child. Information provided by the United Nations Population Fund suggests that approximately 40 per cent. of all female contraceptive acceptors are using the IUD.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the system of birth permits in China; how the system operates; whether he interprets it as coercive; and what statement regarding birth permits have been made by the IPPF and the UNFPA. [32013]
§ Mr. HanleyWe are aware that local authorities in China have attempted to influence fertility rates by approving which women may give birth in a given community in any year. Both the United Nations Population Fund, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, have repeatedly made it clear that women and men should be able to choose freely the number and spacing of their children and have expressed their abhorrence of coercion in any form. The Chinese Government are aware that the UNFPA will fund activities that take place in provinces only where systems of birth permits, quotas and targets do not exist.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the number of UNFPA employees based in China since
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Name Rank Date training commenced Date training completed 1990–91 Scholarships Mr. Yusnar Arsyad Lieutenant Colonel 16 August 1990 15th December 1990 Mr. Adjie Rustarn Ramdja Major 16 August 1990 15th December 1990 Mr. Deddy S.K. Lieutenant Colonel 16 August 1990 15th December 1990 Mr. Medhy Chumadi Lieutenant 16 August 1990 15th December 1990 1979; and how many have been seconded to, attached to or worked in association with the Chinese State Family Planning Commission. [32021]
§ Mr. HanleyThe United Nations Population Fund's staffing in China has varied depending on the size of its programme. In mid-1994, there were eight international staff, 10 full-time Chinese staff and two part-time Chinese staff. There has always been one country director co-ordinating the work of UNFPA. The present one is its sixth since 1979. At no time has any UNFPA staff member been assigned to work for the State Family Planning Commission.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the links between the Chinese State Family Planning Commission and the Chinese Family Planning Association with the Chinese national family planning journal and Chinese provincial family planning reports; if his Department receives copies of the journal and reports; and what information he has on the prevalence of recommendations for coercive methods of population control in both sources since 1990. [32009]
§ Mr. HanleyWe do not receive copies of these publications, and cannot comment on their content or links with the Chinese State Family Planning Commission and the China Family Planning Association.