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Oral Answers
3 JUNE 1992
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Douglas Hurd): The Yugoslav crisis has been discussed at every recent meeting of European Community Foreign Ministers. I made a statement to the House about it yesterday.
Mrs. Ewing: May I first apologise to the Secretary of State for having been unable to attend yesterday because of a constituency engagement?
Is the Secretary of State now discussing specifically with his counterparts the possibility of the implementation of a naval blockade and air cargo inspection to ensure that sanctions are effective in resolving the problems, especially in Serbia? Has he had any specific discussions with representatives of Greece-[Interruption.)-one of the European Community partners, given that Greece may suffer as a result of the sanctions?
Mr. Hurd: The hon. Lady was not very courteously treated by the hon. Members in front of her, so I did not hear the last part of her question. On the first point-
Mr. Skinner: It is all about Denmark.
Madam Speaker: Order. Let us proceed in good order today.
Mr. Hurd: I answered questions on the hon. Lady's first point yesterday. I am not sure that a naval blockade or an inspection of air cargoes would add very much at present to the efficacy of the sanctions A monitoring committee of the Security quin Nework will keep an eye on the matter. We are in very close touch with the Greeks, not only on the question of Macedonia, on which they have especially strong views, but on the whole question. They are bound, and accept that they are bound, not only by the European Community decisions, but by the mandatory decision of the Security Council.
Sir Nicholas Fairbairn: Does my right hon. Friend think that the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing) does not see the parallel between Yugoslavia and Great Britain, in which all attempts at ethnic fragmentation, when 80 per cent. of Scots live in England and half those who live in Scotland are not Scots, are fallacious and wrong? The Government did well to protect the Union.
Mr. Hurd: I admire my hon. and learned Friend's ingenity. I cannot say what was in the mind of the hon. Member for Moray (Mrs. Ewing). My hon. and learned Friend compels attention across the world as a flower of Scottish democracy.
Hong Kong Governor
3. Mrs. Mahon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the future role of the new Governor of Hong Kong.
Mr. Hurd: The whole House will want to join in wishing Mr. Patten well as he prepares for this demanding job. His role and that of the Government will be to administer Hong Kong justly and efficiently until the transfer of/ sovereignty in 1997, and to do everything possible to lay secure foundations for preserving Hong Kong's way of life and economic success beyond that date, as provided for in the Joint Declaration.
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Mrs. Mahon: How can Chris Patten expect or demand the respect of the Chinese Government when the British Government have failed to democratise the Government in Hong Kong? May we have an assurance that Chris Patten will not spend his expensive time collecting funds for the Tory party?
Mr. Hurd: The hon. Lady is notably misinformed. The Government have begun the task of introducing democracy directly elected representatives in the Legislative Council. That is something that no previous Government have done but which we now have under way. The question is one of pace, as the hon. Lady knows: it is a question of how much further progress we make in 1995 and of how we ensure that the process continues after the transfer of power. The hon. Lady ought to know better than to ask such tendentious questions.
Mr. Renton: Like many hon. Members on both sides of the House, I welcome the choice of Chris Patten as governor. He is a friend and colleague of hon. Members on both sides of the House and I believe that he will be an outstanding governor. Further to the answer that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has just given, can he tell the House a little more about what decisions he expects to be taken regarding, for example, the future composition of the Executive Council and the number of elected members on the Legislative Council in the run-up to 1997? Obviously, those matters are of continuing and great interest to Hong Kong.
Mr. Purd: I do not think that the new governor will want to rush to conclusions on these matters as soon as he takes over. He would be wise to want-I am sure that he will want to consult widely after his arrival, to weight up all the factors and then to put his advice to us. That will take time. I would not expect conclusions on the kind of matters that my right hon. Friend mentioned to emerge until the autumn at the earliest.
On the specific point concerning the 1995 LegCo elections, we have said that we shall be discussing those elections with the Chinese side with the aim of ensuring as much continuity as possible. Decisions on electoral to take account of such arrangements will need discussions; they are, I think, some way off.
Mr. Loyden: How can the Foreign Secretary in principle agree that a man rejected in democratic elections in this country should be imposed upon the people of Hong Kong?
Mr. Hurd: Because he is a first-class man, as hon. Members know. The hon. Gentleman will know of the very wide and hearty welcome that his appointment has Yeceived in Hong Kong.
Gibraltar
4. Mr. Colvin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to bring Gibraltar within the external frontier of the EEC.
Mr. Garel-Jones: We and the Spaniards are in discussion with the Portuguese, as the EC presidency, to find a way of ensuring that the external frontiers convention applies in Gibraltar.
Mr. Colvin: When I tabled the question, the kind of Common Market to which Gibraltar, as a Crown colony,
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