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Mr. Waldegrave : We fully support efforts to convene talks in Cairo between the Israeli Government and the Palestinians, from inside and outside the occupied territories, to carry forward Mr. Shamir's elections proposal.
Soviet Union
81. Mr. David Porter : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to meet his Soviet counterpart to discuss Anglo-Soviet relations.
Mr. Waldegrave : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs hopes to meet Mr. Shevardnadze during the first half of next year.
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Nicaragua
96. Mr. Darling : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance he plans to offer Nicaragua to help in the organisation of the forthcoming general elections there ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : At the invitation of the Nicaraguan Supreme Electoral Council, we have appointed an official British election observer for the elections. We have also donated photocopying equipment. A number of our partners have provided aid for the elections, and the EC is also considering doing so.
Chile
97. Mr. Terry Davis : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to visit Chile.
Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no plans at present to visit Chile.
Brussels Treaty
106. Mr. Wilkinson : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he intends to re-examine with its co- signatories the provisions of the Brussels treaty.
Sarawak
109. Mr. Steinberg : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has any plans to visit Sarawak.
Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no immediate plans to visit Sarawak.
British Council
111. Mr. Paice : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the British Council's promotion of British interests overseas.
135. Mr. Stevens : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the British Council is promoting British interests overseas.
Mr. Sainsbury : The British Council have proved that they can deliver excellent value for money in promoting our interests worldwide, most notably in the fields of educational exchanges, English language teaching and the arts. We are glad to have been able to increase their grant substantially for the second year in succession which will, for example, enable the British Council to increase its operation in eastern Europe.
Somalia
113. Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what fresh initiatives he has taken or intends to take to encourage an end to the civil war in Somalia and enable refugees to return home.
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Mr. Waldegrave : We continue to support efforts aimed at bringing peace and reconciliation to Somalia.
NATO
116. Mr. Cartwright : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the implications of recent events in Germany for the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Mr. Waldegrave : NATO remains the cornerstone of our defence, and has a vital role in providing the framework of stability within which further progress towards democracy and freedom in the German Democratic Republic can be made.
Lebanon
120 Mr. Tim Smith : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the peace process in the Lebanon.
Mr. Waldegrave : The assassination of President Moawad is a grave setback to the process of reconciliation in Lebanon. We call on the Lebanese people and other parties concerned to exercise restraint and to continue the search for peace.
125. Mr. Latham : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make a statement on any current Government initiatives to bring about the release of British citizens held captive in Lebanon.
Mr. John Evans : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he plans any new initiatives to free the British hostages held captive in Lebanon.
Mr. Waldegrave : We have reviewed our efforts to secure the release of the hostages and have concluded that our policy of making no substantive concessions to the hostage holders is correct. We shall take every opportunity to urge those countries and organisations having influence on this matter to use it to bring about the hostages' release. Meanwhile, we shall continue to follow up all possible leads.
Arms Control
121. Mr. Cohen : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the current state of arms control negotiations.
Mr. Waldegrave : NATO is pursuing energetically all the arms control priorities set out at the May NATO summit, and western proposals continue to dominate the arms control agenda. The conventional arms control negotiations have made good progress since they were established in March, and we remain on course to reach the ambitious target we have set ourselves of agreement next year. We are also moving forward towards a global chemical weapons convention at the negotiations in Geneva. As United States and Soviet negotiators are making progress towards a START agreement which would make deep cuts in each country's strategic nuclear arsenal.
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Council of Europe
123. Mr. Rathbone : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to meet his opposite numbers in the Council of Europe.
Mr. Maude : The next ministerial session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will take place on 10 May 1990. A decision on whether my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary or another Minister will attend will be taken nearer the time.
Human Rights
128. Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make it his policy that the United Kingdom should not attend any human rights conference in Moscow until there is a substantial improvement in Soviet performance in protecting human rights ; and if he will make a statement about recent developments in this area.
Mr. Waldegrave : As we made clear in January, we shall attend the CSCE human rights conference in Moscow in 1991 only if progress made on human rights in the Soviet Union in recent years is sustained. While there have been undoubted improvements, significant problems remain--in particular the plight of many long-term refuseniks who are still not allowed to emigrate.
Islamabad
136. Mr. Madden : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next intends to visit Islamabad.
Mr. Sainsbury : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no immediate plans to visit Pakistan.
UNESCO
139. Mr. Janman : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how Her Majesty's Government are using the resources previously allocated to UNESCO ; and if he will make a statement.
140. Mr. Neil Hamilton : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how Her Majesty's Government are using the resources previously allocated to UNESCO ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Sainsbury : In the financial year 1988-89 the money saved by our withdrawal from UNESCO was re-allocated and spent as follows :
|£ |£
|committed |spent
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. |ODA Technical Co-operation Training
| Programme |1,872,000 |1,773,033
2. |English Language Training Courses |799,000 |593,920
3. |ODA Shared Scholarship Scheme |320,000 |320,000
4. |FCO Scholarships and Awards Scheme |640,000 |640,000
5. |ODA Cultural Projects |100,000 |92,000
6. |PES transfer to FCO for cultural
| projects |100,000 |100,000
7. |Chinese student scholarships in United
| Kingdom |950,000 |950,000
8. |Distance learning project in
| Commonwealth countries |100,000 |-
9. |Nassau fellowships |500,000 |743,368
10. |Commonwealth Media Development
| Fund |150,000 |150,000
11. |Royal Society |112,000 |116,000
12. |Research in Arid Commonwealth Africa |300,000 |300,000
13. |Inter-Governmental Oceanographic
| Commission |96,000 |78,000
14. |Man and the Biosphere/
|International Hydrological Programme/
|International Association of Hydro-
| logical Sciences |200,000
15. |Dissemination of results of research |200,000 |200,000
|---------- |----------
|Total |6,439,000 |6,256,321
China
141. Mr. Dykes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on current relations between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China.
Mr. Maude : I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Adley) on 20 October at column 267.
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he is satisfied that the sale of radar equipment to China by GEC-Marconi was not in contravention of the Madrid declaration of 27 June to cease high technology and military sales to China.
Mr. Maude : The Madrid declaration imposed an embargo on trade in arms with China but did not prohibit sales of high technology. We have therefore banned export of weapons together with any equipment which could be used for the purposes of internal repression. Proposed exports are considered on a case-by-case basis. The avionics equipment to be supplied to China by GEC Marconi falls outside the embargo.
Refuseniks
Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Russian Government about their treatment of refuseniks.
Mr. Waldegrave : We continue to take every opportunity to raise individual refusenik cases with the Soviet authorities, and to underline the need for satisfactory and effective legislation in this area. The most recent high level exchange took place on 29 September when my predecessor met Mr. Shevardnadze in New York.
Tibet
Mr. Harry Barnes : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has received regarding the Chinese occupation of Tibet.
Mr. Maude : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has received four letters from hon. Members on behalf of constituents and 48 letters from members of the public.
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations
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he has made to the Government of the People's Republic of China about events in Tibet ; and what response has he received.Mr. Maude : We have frequently made clear to the Chinese our concern about human rights in Tibet, both bilaterally and in association with our EC partners. The Chinese have reiterated their willingness to talk with the Dalai Lama but reject any moves to promote the independence of Tibet.
Rev. Martin Smyth : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to meet the Dalai Lama.
Mr. Maude : I refer the hon. Membe to the answer that I gave at column 498 on 16 November to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Riverside (Mr. Parry).
Arts and Culture
Mr. Fisher : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what prominence he intends to give to the role of arts and cultural policy in the national plan that Her Majesty's Government will offer to the European Community in 1990.
Mr. Luce [holding answer 27 November 1989] : I am not aware of such a plan.
Bulgaria
Mr. Stern : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he expects to meet Mr. Peter Mladenov, the new head of state of Bulgaria.
Mr. Waldegrave : My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has no plans to meet Mr. Mladenov.
Sri Lanka
Mr. Geraint Howells : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to promote a cessation of the escalating conflict in Sri Lanka.
Mr. Sainsbury : We support the efforts of the Sri Lankan Government to restore peace and stability throughout the country. To that end, we welcome the agreement between India and Sri Lanka announced on 18 September, which provided a framework for implementation of measures to achieve a peaceful settlement in the north and east.
Genocide (UN Convention)
Mr. Amess : To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report a list of those countries known to his Department to have ratified the United Nations convention on genocide, according to date of ratification.
Mr. Sainsbury : As at 1 August 1989, 102 countries have ratified acceded or succeeded to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide :
Ethiopia : 1 July 1949.
Australia : 8 July 1949.
Norway : 22 July 1949.
Iceland : 29 August 1949.
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Ecuador : 21 December 1949.Panama : 11 January 1950.
Guatemala : 13 January 1950.
Israel : 9 March 1950.
Monaco : 13 March 1950.
Jordan : 3 April 1950.
Liberia : 9 June 1950.
Philippines : 7 July 1950.
Saudi Arabia : 13 July 1950.
Bulgaria : 21 July 1950.
Turkey : 31 July 1950.
Yugoslavia : 29 August 1950.
El Salvador : 28 September 1950.
Sri Lanka : 12 October 1950.
Costa Rica : 14 October 1950.
Democratic Kampuchea : 14 October 1950.
France : 14 October 1950.
Haiti : 14 October 1950.
Republic of Korea : 14 October 1950.
Romania : 2 November 1950.
Poland : 14 November 1950.
Lao People's Democratic Republic : 8 December 1950.
Czechoslovakia : 21 December 1950.
Denmark : 15 June 1951.
Belgium : 5 September 1951.
Hungary : 7 January 1952.
Nicaragua : 29 January 1952.
Egypt : 8 February 1952.
Honduras : 5 March 1952.
Brazil : 15 April 1952.
Sweden : 27 May 1952.
Italy : 4 June 1952.
Mexico : 22 July 1952.
Canada : 3 September 1952.
Cuba : 4 March 1953.
Chile : 3 June 1953.
Lebanon : 17 December 1953.
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic : 11 August 1954. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics : 3 May 1954.
Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic : 15 November 1954.
Germany, Federal Republic of : 24 November 1954.
Greece : 8 December 1954.
Albania : 12 May 1955.
Syrian Arab Republic : 25 June 1955.
Burma : 14 March 1956.
Afghanistan : 22 March 1956.
Argentina : 5 June 1956.
Iran (Islamic Republic of) : 14 August 1956.
Tunisia : 29 November 1956.
Pakistan : 12 October 1957.
Morocco : 24 January 1958.
Austria : 19 March 1958.
Ghana : 24 December 1958.
Iraq : 20 January 1959.
Iceland : 27 August 1959.
Colombia : 27 October 1959.
Finland : 18 December 1959.
Peru : 24 February 1960.
Venezuela : 12 July 1960.
Zaire : 31 May 1962.
Algeria : 31 October 1963.
Burkina Faso : 14 September 1965.
Netherlands : 20 June 1966.
Mongolia : 5 January 1967.
Uruguay : 11 July 1967.
Spain : 13 September 1968.
Jamaica : 23 September 1968.
Nepal : 17 January 1969.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland : 30 January 1970.
Tonga : 16 February 1972.
Fiji : 11 January 1973.
German Democratic Republic : 27 March 1973.
Mali : 16 July 1974.
Lesotho : 29 November 1974.
Rwanda : 16 April 1975.
Bahamas : 5 August 1975.
Ireland : 22 June 1976.
New Zealand : 28 December 1978.
Gambia : 29 December 1978.
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