overthrowing the Chinese Government, Spokesman said that such a view
was quite wrong. The people of Hong Kong attached great importance to their democratic freedoms under their own legal system. Equally,
it was important that such freedoms were used with a sense of
responsibility. There was no intention to use Hong Kong as a base
for "activities" against the Chinese Government. But the democratic
freedoms of Hong Kong must be preserved.
IRAQ: MRS PARISH
In response to a question about the detention of Mrs Parish in Iraq,
Spokesman said that the British Government was concerned that we had:
not yet received consular access to Mrs Parish. We had raised the
matter frequently with the Iraqi government, notably the Foreign
Secretary had spoken to his Iraqi counterpart in New York on the
subject.
In response to a further question about why she had been detained, Spokesman said that the question should be directed to the Iraqi
authorities. We understood that her detention was in connection
with the Iraqi authorities' investigation into the activities of the
Observer journalist, Mr Farzad Bazoft.
UK/USSR HUMAN RIGHTS GROUP
Questioned about the cancellation of the visit by the UK Human
Rights Working Group to the Soviet Union, Spokesman said that
obviously this was a set-back. The UK Government believed, however, that there was still important work to be done. We would be looking
carefully at how best our human rights interests could now be
pursued.
RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS TO EAST BERLIN
In response to a question about Western visitors to East Berlin,
Spokesman drew attention to the text of an Allied press statement
issued in Berlin on 5 October:
The Allied Commandants have noted with great concern the recent
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