TNAG-2714-FCO40-3920-House-of-Commons-Select-Committee-on-Foreign-Affairs-enquiry-1993 — Page 59

14-JUL-1993 16:39

JAMES LEE

TRANSCRIPT B

MR.

0494536249 P.27

ALASTAIR GOODLAD - FOREIGN AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE 14 JULY 1993

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are in fact planning to invite a delegation to come to this

country to talk further about human rights.

As I said earlier, they do not recognise the universality of human

rights in the way that we do. They think that the important human

rights are shelter, feeding and survival but there are signs of

sensitivity to foreign criticism the release of some detainees,

the willingness to receive our delegation and others which would

have been unthinkable some years ago. They have published three

so-called sort of White Papers on human rights so my conclusion is

that it is worth persevering with a dialogue. of course, we can't

enforce improvements in human rights in China but we will

persevere with a dialogue and with persuasion and I hope that

together with others who do the same we will succeed in helping to

alter attitudes.

MR. ROBERT WAREING:

I also recognise that it is very important that there are economic

human rights which the Chinese apparently argue for but that

doesn't mean that they should not have respect for freedom of

speech and movement towards the sort of freedoms that we accept in

the West but we are in fact very much concerned about this now

especially with 1997 and Hong Kong's position being discussed and

we are concerned about human rights as they will be in Hong Kong

when it becomes a part of China.