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Mr. Llew Smith: Will the Minister give way?
My right hon. and learned Friend will also consider representations in addition to those already forwarded to the fire authority, provided that the individual or organisation concerned forwards them promptly on being advised that a section 19 application is to be submitted.
The standards that are applied dictate the initial response to a fire in weight and speed of attack. They rest on four main standards of service, according to the risk category into which an area has been placed. This system of risk is based on the characteristics of the buildings and property in an area, and assumes for each category that a predetermined number of firefighting appliances should attend within a certain time.
The standards are not just nationally recommended, but are nationally agreed in the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council.
The Government consider that the standards have served the country well, but that is not to say that we regard them as immutable. The Audit Commission's report recommended another fundamental review of the levels of fire cover, and we are proceeding with that review.
We are grateful for the assistance of my hon. Friend the Member for Cirencester and Tewkesbury (Mr. Clifton-Brown) in our consideration of the future of the Fire Service college. We are keen for it to remain in existence. Although it is subject to financial constraints, we want it to succeed, and will do all we can to preserve it.
The fire service in England provides an excellent public service. We value the work of firefighters--
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Sir Geoffrey Lofthouse):
Order. Time's up.
Mr. William Powell (Corby):
This debate takes place at a particularly opportune time, in view of the unfolding drama involving mainland China--the People's Republic of China--and Taiwan. I speak as chairman of the British-Taiwan parliamentary group; my interests are fully declared in the Register of Members' Interests, but let me add for the avoidance of doubt that I have visited Taiwan twice as a guest of the Government of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
There is no doubt that relations between Great Britain and Taiwan have improved enormously in the past few years, and that that has resulted from a great deal of hard work on both sides. I pay tribute to members of the British Government who have been involved, and to our representatives in Taipei who have worked so hard to build up trade and cultural relations with the Republic of China. The House and the country owe a great debt to those involved in such work--for instance, Mr. Morrice and his successor, who has recently gone to Taipei.
I also pay tribute to the work done by representatives of the Republic of China in London, particularly Dr. Eugene Chien and his admirable staff, who have worked hard in recent years to make relations between our two countries increasingly warm. And I pay tribute to the remarkable and redoubtable Dr. David Liu, head of the cultural office in this country, whose distinguished work in building close educational and cultural ties was recently and appropriately recognised by the University of Central England in Birmingham. The university awarded Dr. Liu an honorary doctorate, a thoroughly well-earned tribute and distinction.
The objective indices of the improvement that is taking place can be found everywhere, but let me highlight two or three that really matter. There is no doubt that trading and commercial ties are becoming much closer. That is a two-way process: although the balance of trade is not to Great Britain's advantage, ICI, Glaxo-Wellcome and many other British enterprises are investing in Taiwan, and the Taiwanese are beginning to invest in the United Kingdom. Most recently, a huge investment in Scotland was announced. I particularly welcome that, because many of my constituents have relatives who live in the part of Scotland where the enterprise is to be based.I hope that their families will secure employment in the Motherwell area.
That is by no means the only investment, however. There are successful Taiwanese enterprises on Tyneside, in the west midlands and elsewhere, and the Taiwanese have invested in the City of London. I hope that there will be further inward investment. I pay special tribute to all who are working so hard in this country, and with the British Government, to secure those investments.
There has been a huge increase in the number of Taiwanese tourists coming to this country. Until a few years ago, it was very difficult for people from Taiwan to travel to Great Britain. Although niggling difficulties remain, much hard work has been done to try to reduce them, and I pay tribute to all those involved. We have much to gain from the Taiwanese students who come here. The staggering increase in their number is the most dramatic development of all. When I first became interested in the subject, only a handful visited this country each year--certainly fewer than 100. Now, the number is rising 10,000.
It is understandable that the Taiwan authorities should want only the best for students who go abroad to enter further and higher education. It is therefore not surprising that they wish to send so many to our universities and colleges. Although some of those in higher education are pessimistic about their financial opportunities, the fact remains that our further and higher education institutions are the best in the world, and are recognised as such. It is not surprising that so many students want to go to Cambridge, Imperial college, the London school of economics, Oxford and scores of other institutions, and I hope that they will arrive in ever larger numbers.
Mr. Hugh Dykes (Harrow, East):
The figure that my hon. Friend has quoted is truly remarkable, given that the figure for the People's Republic of China is only about 8,000. That is a major achievement.
We should bear in mind the current tensions between the two countries, and the fact that the Chinese authorities in Beijing have repeatedly suggested the concept of one country, two systems for Taiwan along with their plans for Hong Kong. Notwithstanding the current dangerous circumstances--one wishes that both sides would cool it--and bearing in mind the fact that Taiwan is historically a province of the Chinese motherland, does my hon. Friend agree that it would be a great mistake for the American authorities to encourage the Taiwanese population, or politicians, to think of future independence?
Mr. Powell:
I thank my hon. Friend for his observations. He chairs the British-Chinese parliamentary group, and has extensive experience of relations between Great Britain and China. I know that his words--along with mine and those of my right hon. Friend the Minister--will be minutely scrutinised by people in Beijing, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and throughout the Asian Pacific region. The debate is taking place at a time of extraordinary sensitivity in the development of Chinese relations and policy towards all China--in which I include Hong Kong, the People's Republic, Taiwan, Macau and the whole Chinese world. My hon. Friend is right to sound a note of caution, and I hope that it will be heard and acted on by the authorities in Beijing.
Tension is clearly rising rapidly, and the danger of a miscalculation could be considerable. It is important that every effort should be made in the international community to lower the temperature and reduce the danger of any such miscalculation. Taiwan's greatest triumph has been its moves towards establishing a genuine popular democracy. It is extremely difficult to do that--not merely to hold an election and to ensure that it is the only election that is ever held, but to establish genuine and legitimate democratic institutions and ensure that freedom can be fully exercised in all areas of life, not just in the election of a national leader.
The election of a President, which will take place next week, is only the latest step in a process that has been going on for nearly 10 years--since 1987--to establish fully democratic institutions. We should be proud of any country--any region, indeed--that takes such steps. The greatest tribute that I pay those who lead Taiwan is to the courage, persistence and steadfastness that they have
shown in unfolding their programme of democratic reform. Only 10 years ago, the stage of democracy that is being reached would have been unthinkable for people who knew Taiwan. Not least for that reason, we should do all we can. I know that my right hon. Friend the Minister and my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary are working hard to ensure that the danger of enhanced tension is reduced as much as possible. The People's Republic has announced that the military exercises in the strait of Taiwan are to last nine days. Clearly, prolonging them would be a dangerous step.
Equally, if the People's Republic enhanced the degree of the exercise and, instead of conducting what it calls air exercises over the sea, tested live missiles, leading to aggression against the islands of Quemoy or Matsu, or against the main island of Taiwan, that would lead to a most regrettable and difficult international position.As someone who has tried to study these matters intensely in recent years, I look forward to a time when Taiwan and mainland China can be reunited, but that should not be achieved by coercion or by trying to undermine the remarkable progress of liberalisation and democratisation that has taken place on Taiwan.
Nevertheless, I hope that it will be possible for all Chinese people to come together in one country, even if it involves more than one system of government at some stage. That policy is being pursued by the Government of Taiwan and by President Lee, who has been responsible for that remarkable programme of liberalisation and democratisation. I therefore support reunification, but not reunification by means of coercion, which is not the way to conduct international relations at this stage in the world's history. As the people of Taiwan rank, by reason of their history, as the most sophisticated in the world, to imagine that the rest of the world community will accept an attempt to achieve by coercion an objective that is shared on both sides of the strait of Taiwan, will cause considerable problems in the rest of the world.
12.30 pm
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