Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
бер
29 April 1974
From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
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Alzar Tam,
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You wrote to Sir Anthony Royle on 30 November 1973 enclosing a letter from the Honorary Secretary of the Fauna Preservation Society, and again on 17 January, about the BBC Radio 4 programme on the import of wildlife from China into Hong Kong, and cruelty and the threat of extinction to certain species.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Governor of Hong Kong have examined with care what is being and should be done to deal with this difficult and complex problem. Hong Kong is, of course, predominantly a Chinese society. The Hong Kong Government do not seek to dictate to their people what they should or should not eat, provided that the animals and birds are humanely treated and killed, and that internationally accepted restrictions on trade in endangered species are observed. The Hong Kong Government are, however, well aware of the problems which arise from the wildlife trade and have recently passed further legislation and taken other measures to deal with them.
As far as endangered species are concerned, the Hong Kong Government have already banned, as from 1 January 1974, the importation of threatened species listed in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of d Fauna and Flora. As for other potentially endangered species, such as those in Appendix II of the Convention, the decision on
Mr Tam Dalyell MP House of Commons SWI
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