in s exhibitions and new
new publications engineering design. As has already been announced, the
council will shortly be strengthening its senior staff by the
appointment of an officer to be respon sible for the expansion of its
engineering activities.
In view of the changing balance of its activities, my right hon. Friend
has agreed that the Council of Industrial Design should change its title
to "The Design Council" as from 1st April, 1972.
FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS
Mrs. Gladys Yang
55. Mr. Gorst asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
Affairs whether he will make a further statement on the prospects of
release for Mrs. Gladys Yang in the light of the improved relations
between China and the West following President Nixon's recent visit to
Peking.
Mr. Anthony Royle: The agreement on an exchange of ambassadors, which my
right hon. Friend announced in his statement this aftemoon, reflects the
in- provement of our relations with China. In the light of this
improvement we hope soon to secure the release of these British subjects
detained in China-un- Mrs. Yang. We shall continue to do all we can to
achieve this.
Mr. Ridley: No such restriction was specifically imposed but directions
were issued under Section 1712) of the Emerg- ency Regulations, 1972, to
a large num- ber of medium-sized industrial consumers prohibiting the
use of electricity, except for certain listed purposes, on specilied
days of the week. Smaller industrialcluding consumers were subjected to
rota dis- connections by electricity boards on two high risk days each
week. This arrange ment was operated under the special authority granted
under Section 1701) of We have the Emergency Regulations. received no
representations about the use of electricity for the heating of water
for personal washing in industry.
Council of Industrial Design (New Activities)
Mr. Bishop asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what new
engineering design activities are planned by the Council of Industrial
Design; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Ridley: The Council's present plans for expansion include new design
17 F 15
European Economic Community Mr. Spearing asked the Secretary of State
for Foreign and Commonwè 'Th Affairs if he will list in the OFFICAL
REPORT all treaties and ancillary treaties of the Communities entered
into prior 10 22nd January. 1972, as defined in Schedule 1, Part 1(7) of
the Europ... Communities Bill, together with the te er- ence to where
the text of that treaty can be found and the subject of its contents.
Mr. Rippon: I would refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Mem-
ber for Farnworth (Mr. Roper) on 19th February. A list at the beginning
o Volume 1 of the series of "Treaties N related instruments of the
Europea
... 13. March For low-
833
13th March 1972
*C Mr John Gorst (Hendon, North): To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will make a further
statement on the prospects of release for Mrs Gladys Yang in the light
of the
improved relations between China and the West following President
Nixon's recent visit to Peking.
NO 55
MR ANTHONY ROYLE
The agreement on an exchange of ambassadors, which my
right honourable Friend announced in his Statement this
afternoon, reflects the improvement of our relations with
China. In the light of this improvement we hope soon to
secure the release of those British subjects detained in
China including Mrs Yang. We shall continue to do all
we can to achieve this.
―
POSSIBLE
Supp.
flom
MR. GORST.
FEC 14/3
1
REFERENCES
PQ ir Royle's oral reply to Mr John
Gorat
B
PQ
C PQ
Press cutting from "The Times"
The Secretary of State's oral raly to ir Dalyell and Sir G labarro
MRS YANG
dan
:of
24 January 1972
2 March 1972
6 March 1972
The agreement I have announced exchange of Ambassador reflects
ects the
коре боти
to sacre
improvement in out refations with China. In the light
this improvement / we hope the release of these British subjects
detained in China including Mrs. Yang. We shall continue to do all we
where this.
NOTES FOR SUPPLEMENTARIES
REASING FOR 1ĪRS YAMBUS FENEN SEMI?
can t
1. The Chinese Goverhent have given no reason for
Mrs Tang's detention. We have continued to press them for information on
this pint. They told our Chargé d'Affaires
in April last year that she was in good health but that her
case was still being investigated.
IS MINS MAIG A BRIDES I SUDI VAN?
2. Mrs Yang was born in China of British parents. She has
not, so far as we-how, renounced her British nationality
and is therefore a British subject.
10
IF HR HUSBAND IS/CHINESE WIKI, A * BE ALLOTED JO TERATO
3. We do not how whether rs Yang wishes to leave China.
There may be difficulties about this since her husband and
children are Chinese. Our representations have been directed
to obtaining consular access and securing her release from
detention.
TAAR DIGN BRIJEVI SUL DAS AND SAILE DIZAIN NA PRIMA?
4. There are three other British subjects believed to be
detained in Ching
-
Mrs Epstein, Hr Shapiro, and Mr Crook.
They have been detained since 1967 and 1968.
1
!
WHAT
:
I
.
!
1
THAT AFTER CUISULA : ACCESS?
5. The Chinese Government have told us that it is illegal
under Chinese law for persons under investigation to be
visited or to receive letters or parcels; and they have
consistently declined to give details of the whereabouts of
prisoners.
T
WRITTEN
for DRAE answer on13th March 1972
reach the Parkainentury Office through your Under-Secretary by
10an. Mahelay 13/3
*C Mr John Gorst Glondon, North): To ask the Secretary of State for
Foroi;;n anl Commonwealth Affairs, whether ho will make a further
statomont on the prospots of rolcase for Mrs Gladys Yang in the light of
the improvod rolations botroen China and the Wout following President
Nixon's recent visit to Poking.
Mr. Anthony Royle.
1
The agreement on an exchange of ambassadors which my of-hon-Friend his
announced in Statement this afternoon, reflects
the improvement of our relations with China. In the
light of this improvement we hope soon to secure the
release of those British subjects detained in China
including Mrs Yang. We shall continue to do all we can.
to on chain thin. I
(10000) D4.634901 2,500 2/6 Q.W.B.LM. Gp.363
4
1
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Mr. Logan
2 draft
answers
are
submitted
if
use
this
the first for reached wally before the Statement,
the second should the
Question
writtere.
до
Metrowell
13/3
No. 55
+
יד
:
any
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
WRITTEN
for BRAK Mawer os
...13th March 1972
EE Dk 2
The draft reply should reach the Parliament.ury Office through your
Under-Secretary by
1 Can. Mathclay 13/3
*C Mr John Gorst (ilendon, North): To ask the Sucretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will make a further
statemont on the prospects of release for Mrs Gladys Yang in the light
of the
improved relations botwoen China and the West following Président
Nixon's recent visit to Peking.
E
Mr. Anthony Royle.
The agreement on an exchange of ambassadors which ot-hon-Firend
has
announced in Statement this afternoon, reflects
the improvement of our relations with China. In the
light of this improvement we hope seen to secure the
release of those British subjects detained in
including Mrs Yang.
We shall continue to do
China ›
to a chriswn this. all we can
(12000) (4,6347901 2,500 2/69 O.W.ALM. Gp.863
Ohhored by Aktored
Mr. Royle
1
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION
for ORAL answer on13th March 1972
FED
The draft reply should reach the Parliamentary Office through your
Under-Secretary by
2
10an Monday 13/2
*C Mr John Gorst (Hendon, North): To ask the Secretary of State for
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he will make a further
statement on the prospects of release for Mrs Gladys Yang in the light
of the improved relations between China and the West following President
Nixon's recent visit to Peking.
Mr. Anthony Royle.
As I have said before we welcomed President Nixon's visit to China as a
means of improving understanding
in the world. We would hope that the improvement in our
own relations would lead to the release of the remaining
detained British subjects including Mrs Yang. We shall
to achieve thes
-
continue to do all we cant Our Chargé d'Affaires last
discussed this matter with the Chinese authorities on
31 January.
(12800) DL634901 2,500 2/69 GWELN. GR.BI
1
Mr Wilford
Parliamentary Office
CONFIDENTIAL
ST. AVEL IN
R... ¡RY No.50
14 MAR 1972
FEC 14/3
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION:
MRS GLADYS YANG
1. I attach two alternative draft replies to Mr John Gorst's
Parliamentary Question for oral answer on 13 March. Parlia-
mentary Office consider it unlikely that the question will be
reached. The written reply therefore takes account of the
Statement on Exchange of Ambassadors which the Secretary of
State is to give at 3.30 pm. The oral reply which, if reached,
would be given very shortly before the Statement must perforce
ignore the fact that agreement has been reached. Notes for
Supplementaries are attached.
2. Ministers have privately encouraged Mr Gorst to ask
questions about Mrs Yang at regular intervals. This provides
us with useful ammunition to demonstrate to the Chinese that
there is continued Parliamentary and public interest in her case.
3. Mr Gorst and Hr Mark Toodnutt HP accompanied Mrs Yang's
brother and sister to the Chinese Mission on 1 March. They
presented a petition signed by 20,000 people urging that Mira
Yang should be allowed to correspond with her family. Mr Gorst
told the press afterwards that they were received with "inscru-
table rudeness". He added that the thaw between China and the
United States did not seem to have reached this country yet.
/4. Mr Addis
1 CONFIDENTIAL
9
CONFIDENTIAL
A.
Mr Addis raised the case of the 4 Detained British
subjects on 31 January with the head of the West European
Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. No new information
was forthcoming. We shall certainly take the matter up again
in the near future, now that the exchange of ambassadors
is agreed.
10 March 1972
SAL Morgan
J AL Morgan
Far Eastern Department
2
CONFIDENTIAL
137
13.
REFERENCES
A
PQ Mr Royle's oral reply to Mr John
Gorst
24 January 1972
A O
B
PQ
Press cutting from "The Times"
2 March 1972
PQ
The Secretary of State's oral rely to Mr Dalyell and Sir G Nabarro
6 March 1972
NOTES FOR SUPPLEMENTARIES
LASNIS FOR MRS YANG'S DEMENRION?
1. The Chinese Government have given no reason for
Hrs Yang's detention. We have continued to press them for
information on this point. They told our Chargé d'Affaires
in April last year that she was in good health but that her
case was still being investigated.
IS MRS YANG A BRITISH SUBIACT?
2. Lirs Yang was born in China of British parents. She has
not, so far as we know, renounced her British nationality
and is therefore a British subject.
IF HER HUSBAND IS CHINESE WILL ↑ EY BE ALLOWED TO DEAVE CHINA?
3. We do not know whether Mrs Yang wishes to leave China.
There may be difficulties about this since her husband and
children are Chinese. Our representations have been directed
to obtaining consular access and securing her release from
detention.
THAN OTHER BRIZISH SUBJECTS ARE STILL DEFAINED IN CHINA?
4. There are three other British subjects believed to be
detained in China
-
Mrs Epstein, Hr Shapiro, and Mr Crook.
They have been detained since 1967 and 1968.
/WHAT
WHAT ABOUT CONSULAR ACCESS?
5. The Chinese Government have told us that it is illegal
under Chinese law for persons under investigation to be
visited or to receive letters or parcels; and they have
consistently declined to give details of the whereabouts of
prisoners.
+
Cite
FE
DAILY TELEGRAPH
25 FEB 1972
LETTERS PLEA
FOR WOMAN
IN
7
HELD IN CHINA
Relatives of Mrs Gladys Yank. 55, a British subject de lained by the
Chinese since July, 1968, are to present a peti- tion containing 20.000
signatures to Mr Pei Tsien-Chang, Chinese Charge d'Affaires in London.
asking 10 be allowed to exchange letters.
The petition has been ganised by Mrs Yang's brother. Mr Harold Tayler,
and his sister, Mrs Hildi Brown.
Mrs Yang. ■ graduate of Somerville College. Oxford, went to China in
1940 where she married a Chinese student she met at Oxford. He was
arrested with her. Their three grown-up children, a son and two
daughters, are believed to be living in Pellug.
14
Aller years of silence the Chinese Government admitted last April that
Mrs Yang and three other detained Britons were well, but still under
investigation." The other three are Mrs Elsie Epstein, arrested with her
American husband; Mr Michael Shapiro, $7, former Commnuist councillor at
Step- ney and a translator in Peking: and Mr David Crook, employed by
the Chinese Government in Peking, who were all detained In 1967.
عراقي
می کسم
Ente
+
+
:
THE GUARDIAN
F2 MAR 1972
Chinese
refuse petition
BY MALCOLM STUART
The Chinese thaw does not appear to have reached this side of the
Atlantic. Yesterday the Chinese Legation in London refused to accept a
pelítion of 20,000-signatures urging that a British-born woman, aged 53,
who has been held in custody for four years, should be allowed to write
to her family.
Hrs Gladys Yang, a graduate of Somerville College, Oxford, went to China
in 1940 to marry
■ Chinese student she had met at university. Mr Yang was arrested with
her during the TO Cultural Revolution." Their grown-up family, a son and
two; daughters, are believed to be living in Peking, but üey have not
been in contact with Eng- lish relatives.
The petition, collected over five months, was taken to the legation in
London yesterday by Mrs Yang's brother and sis ter, Mrs Hilda Brown, a
former college lecturer from Mill Hill, North London, and Mr Harold
Tayler, a teacher froin the Isle of Wight. They were accom- panied by
their MPs, Mr John Gorst and Mr Mark Woodnutt.
'Inscrutable *
**
In fact, they spent less than eight minutes in the legation and came out
still clutching the petition. We were received with Incredible frigidity
and in- scrutable rudeness by a junior official," said Mr Görst. "The
thaw between China and the United States certainly doesn't seem to have
reached this country yel
"We were told that people who are under Investigation for having broken
the law are not allowed to write or receive letters. The only advance is
that this is the Arst indication that Mrs Yang has not actually been
convicted of anything."
It was only with great diß. culty that the British Legation in Peking
was able to establish that Mrs Yang had been arrested, and only a few
pieces of information have reached her family since then. Mrs Yang
vialled Britain before the " Cul- tural Revolution" and spoke of her
sympathy for Chairman Mao's regime.
"We are not asking that she should leave China, we are not even asking
for her release, merely that she should be able to write to her brother
and sister," said Mr Gorst. "All we can do now is to post the peti. tion
to Chou En-lai."
(5
CNS 1/3
Keep
+
141 1
From the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London S.W.1
6 March, 1972
Alec Douglas-Home has asked me to reply
to your letter of 28 February enclosing a letter, which I return, from
your constituent Mr. Thompson about the detention of Mrs. Gladys Yang by
the Chinese authorities.
You will no doubt have seen press reports that John Gorst and Mark
Woodnutt accompanied Mrs. Yang's brother and sister to the Chinese
Mission here on 1 March. They presented a petition signed by 20,000
people urging that Mrs. Yang should be allowed to correspond with her
family. According to the reports the Mission's response was unhelpful.
We have, I regret to say, met with similar reactions from the Chinese
side to the frequent approaches we have made in this case, as in so many
others concerning British subjects detained in China in recent years. We
believe Mrs. Yang was detained as long ago as 1968. Although we
continued to ask the Chinese for information about her, they did not
confirm her detention to us until April 1971. They then informed us that
her case was being investigated but that she was in good
/health.
Ꮀ
- 1
I
I
+
health. Since then we have continued to press for further information
but the Chinese have provided
none.
As you will know from my replies to questions in the House we are
continuing to do all we can on Mrs. Yang's behalf. ‡ told John Gorst on
24 January for example that our new Chargé d'Affaires, who took up his
post on that day, would again be raising the matter with the Chinese
authorities. He did so shortly afterwards during his introductory calls
on the Chinese Foreign. Ministry. Mr. Addis specifically mentioned Mrs.
Yang, explaining that he had known her well for many years. This gave
him a personal interest in her case. The Chinese official concerned
noted the enquiry, but on that occasion gave no further information
about Mrs. Yang or the three other British subjects detained.
We shall of course continue our efforts to obtain her release from
detention. As I told John Gorst on 24 January we hope that this is one
of the matters on which we expect to make progress if agreement on an
exchange of ambassadors is reached.
William Whitlock Esq., M.P.,
House of Commons,
London,
S.W.1.
- 2 -
Anthony Royle
(885363) Dd. 896639 1,000% BITI SEN.
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
Registry No.
2014/3
DRAFT LETTER
SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
Top Sourc
-Secret:-
-Confidential.
Restricted
Unclassified.
PRIVACY MARKING
.In Confidence
To:-
Mr W Whitlock MP House of Commona
SW1
Type 1 +
From
Mr Royle
Telephone No. & Ext,
Department
Alec Douglas-Home has asked me to reply to your
letter of 28 February enclosing a letter, which
return, from your constituent Mr Thompson about
the detention of Mrs Gladys Yang by the Chinese
authorities.
You will no doubt have seen press reports that
John Gorst and Mark Woodnutt accompanied Mrs Yong's
brother and sister to the Chinese Mission here on
1 March. They presented a petition signed by
20,000 people urging that Mrs Yang should be
allowed to correspond with her family. According
to the reports the Mission's response was unhelpful.
We have, I regret to say, met with similar
reactions from the Chinese side to the frequent
approaches we have made in this case, as in so many
others concerning Briti-h\subjects detained in
China in recent years. We believe Mrs Yeng WAS
detained as long ago as 1969, Although we continued
to ask the Chinese for information about her, they
did not confirm her detention to us until Aṛril 1971.
They then informed us that her case was being
investigated but that she was in good health.
Since then we have continued to press for further
/information
NOTHING TO BE WRITTEN IN THIS MARGIN
A
information but the Chinese have provided none.
As you will know from my replies to questions
in the House we are continuing to do all we can on
'ra Yang's behalf. I told John Gorst on 24 January
for example that our new Cherré d'Affaires, who took
up his post on that day, would again be raising the
matter with the Chinese authorities. He did so
shortly afterwards during his introductory calls on
the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Mr Addis specifically
mentioned Mrs Yang, explaining that he had known her
This cave him a nersonal
well for many years.
interest in her case.
The Chinese officiel concerned
noted the enquiry, but on that occasion gave no further
information about Mre Ian or the three other British
subjects detained
We shall of course continue our efforts to obtain
her release from detention. As I told John Gorst on
24 January we hope that this is one is one of the
matters on which we expect to make progress if
"Freement on an exchange of ambassadors is reached.
2
B
Mr unfore
Mr Jozen
CONFIRE TIAL
순
MP'S LETTER: MRS GLADYS YANG
1.
Mr Allian Whitlock MP has written to the Secretary of
State enclosin~ a letter from a constituent M" Thompson about
Mrs Gladys Yang, one of the four British subjects det÷ined in
China.
2. We have not been able to trace the wireless programme to
which fir Whitlock's constituent refeng. 1 petition presented
ד
by John Goret MP and Mr Mark Woodnutt MP to the Chinese Mission
!
on 1 March on Mrr Yang's behalf achievei some publicity in the
preen. I attech a cutting from the "Times" of 2 March.
By way
of background, News Department informed correspondents that I'r Addi¬
had reised the subject with the Chinese Ministry of Forgism Affairs
on 31 January. It is nosaible that this may have been the origin
of the radio report which Kr Thompson mentions.
3.
I submit a draft reply.
3 March 1972
cc: Frs Wallace
Consular Department
CONFLENATAL
SALMorgan
J A L Morgan
Far Eastern Department
tim
+
X
Chinese legation rejects petition about detainee
The Chinese Legation in London refused yesterday to accept a peti- tion,
supported by 20,000 signa- tures, from the brother and sister of a
British subject, Mrs Gladys Yang, who is being detained in China.
The petition urged that Mrs Yang, aged 53, should be allowed to
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.