We have, amongst other things, to concert our foreign policy together because together we can be of much more influence than we can if we are operating separately. The importance of the EEC and concerted action by the countries who are members of it is something which is certainly not lost on the Government of China.
Rhodesia.
The second aspect I want to talk about, Mr. Chairman, is
This again is an example of the fact the British Government
is prepared to assume its responsibilities overseas. We have in four
months changed the situation in relation to Rhodesia dramaticaly before
the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Lusaka only a little
over a month ago. The atmosphere on Rhodesia looked distinctly unpromising,
black. Now we can't be sure whether the conference in London will succeed,
but at least it has the best prospects I believe that we have seen for
the last 15 years. That is due to the change in atmosphere due to the
actions of Mrs. Thatcher and Lord Carrington in Lusaka and since.
Now the third thing I want to talk about is the Vietnamese
refugees. I was asked yesterday in Hong Kong whether the British people
and Press regarded the question of Vietnamese refugees as important. When
the new government came to power at the beginning of May the situation was
difficult but not so bad as it became in the following weeks and it was
Mrs. Thatcher, towards the end of May when she realised how difficult and
how serious the situation was becoming for Hong Kong in particular, who called for the conference which was subsequently held in Geneva. And I don't want you to think that that conference was easy to get on the road. We lobbied over 60 countries or their representatives in London and after
we had exerted this very substantial effort, it was eventually decided
that this conference should be held. And I think that you will agree with me that the results of the Geneva conference have been important. They have been important for Hong Kong. They have been important for the whole of Southeast Asia. They have resulted in a substantial reduction in the flow of refugees coming to Hong Kong and they resulted in a doubling of
S the number of places available for refugee throughout the world. They have resulted in a very substantial increase in the amount of money pledged by foreign countries and I would like to pay tribute here to the great efforts that the Governor has made on this subject both in Geneva and in
other parts of the world. His speech in Geneva had a very marked effect on the other countries in convincing them of the burden that Hong Kong is carrying. Now you know the British Government have said that they will
*or their own capitals in order to get support for
that conference
/take 10,000.....