April 1992
Robert Parry MP Esq
House of Commons
Thank you for your letter of 27 March to
Douglas Hurd about your planned visit to Hong Kong and
China.
As you know from your correspondence with the Prime Minister, the Government shares your deep concern
about human rights in China. We have secured the
agreement of the Chinese Government to a visit by a high
level mission, to be led by Sir Geoffrey Howe, to discuss
the issue. Other countries have adopted a similar
approach (visits by Australian, French and Swiss
delegations have taken place within recent months).
Chinese have emphasised that such delegations should
respect China's laws and have not hesitated to expel
those who have over-stepped the mark. We are convinced that his is the way to make real progress in changing Chinese minds and practices.
The
I don dop
not in all honesty believe that the proposed visit by the International Commission of Enquiry of the Democratic and Labour Movement Against Repression in China is likely to make similar progress. While a straightforward fact finding visit to China could well