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Written Answers
Poland (Radio Broadcasts)
16 DECEMBER 1987
Mr. Barry Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what he intends to do about the jamming of radio broadcasts to Poland.
Mr. Eggar: Following repeated representations, the Polish authorities have told us that jamming of the BBC Polish service will stop on 31 December.
Soviet Jewry
Mr. Dykes: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether during recent discussions with Mr. Gorbachev the plight of Soviet Jewry was raised.
Mr. Mellor: Yes. My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister welcomed the recent increase in Jewish emigration, but pressed Mr. Gorbachev for further progress in this and other areas of human rights concern. My right hon. and learned Friend also raised these issues with the Soviet Foreign Minister, Mr. Shevardnadze, and handed over lists of cases about which recent representations have been made to the Government.
Mr. Ronald Li
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the cause of Mr. Ronald Li's resignation as deputy chairman of the Hong Kong futures exchange.
Mr. Eggar: I understand that Mr. Li, together with all other directors of the futures exchange, tendered his resignation to facilitate the formation of a new board.
Mr. Jeffrey Sun
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the cause of Mr. Jeffrey Sun's resignation as chief executive officer of the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Mr. Eggar: This is a private matter between Mr. Sun and the stock exchange.
Hong Kong Securities Review Committee (Report)
Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Hong Kong Securities Review Committee report into recent events in the territory's stock and futures market will be published; and whether it will be investigating the role of senior officials and Stock Exchange Council members immediately prior to and during the recent closure of the exchanges.
Mr. Eggar: The committee will use its best endeavours to submit its report by 16 May 1988, and the Hong Kong Government intend to publish it thereafter. The main task of the committee is to identify what changes are appropriate to maintain Hong Kong as an international financial centre, rather than to allocate blame for past events.
Anglo-USA Meeting
Mr. Canavan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what subjects he discussed at his last meeting with representatives of the Government of the United States of America.
Written Answers
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Sir Geoffrey Howe: I met Mr. Shultz this morning. A wide range of bilateral and international topics were discussed. We value this regular frank and constructive dialogue.
United Nations
Sir John Biggs-Davison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent increase has been made in the number of officials employed by the United Nations; what proportion of these is from the Soviet bloc; and what economies have been effected recently in the organisation and its agencies.
Mr. Eggar: There has been no increase; on the contrary, posts subject to geographical distribution in the United Nations Organisation have decreased by 16 per cent. since 1985. The East European group's present share of these posts is 10 per cent. We shall continue to work for greater efficiency and value for money throughout the United Nations and its agencies.
Dependent Territories
Mr. Jacques Arnold: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the outcome of the review of policy towards dependent territories announced by the Parliamentary Under- Secretary of State, the hon. Member for Enfield, North (Mr. Eggar), on 23 July 1986; and whether he will make a statement.
Mr. Eggar: Following the concern expressed within the Commonwealth about the security of small states, and the suspension of ministerial government in the Turks and Caicos Islands, we have conducted a review of policy towards our five Caribbean dependent territories and Bermuda. We did so in the light of our commitment to the principle of self-determination and our determination to live up to our obligations under the United Nations charter, and our responsibilities for the good government and development of the dependent territories.
The review concluded that we should not seek in any way to influence opinion in the territories on the question of independence. We would not urge them to consider moving to independence, but we remain ready to respond positively when this is the clearly and constitutionally expressed wish of the people.
As a
result of the review, we are, however, implementing a number of administrative measures to improve the effectiveness with which we discharge our obligations to ensure the good administration, and economic and social development of the dependent territories. The reasonable needs of the dependent territories will continue, as before, to be a first charge on United Kingdom aid funds.
We are already undertaking a programme to improve the defences of the Caribbean dependent territories against the threat posed by drug trafficking, as part of a wider determination, in co-operation with the Government of the United States and regional governments to counter the drugs threat in the region as a whole.
We reaffirm our commitment to the dependent territories and our determination to discharge our obligations in full.
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