Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what information he has received from the United Nations organisation as to the estimated cost of the modern military equipment now being supplied to the Communist forces in North Korea.
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the fact that the negotiations for an armistice in Korea have now been proceeding for nearly a year and have now apparently reached a deadlock, he will consider proposing the summoning of a special meeting of the Assembly of the United Nations to consider the situation.
Mr Frederick Cocks: Are there not many difficult and intractable subjects, such as the exchange of prisoners, the position of Syngman Rhee, the political direction of the war and the possibility of establishing an honourable peace, which might be discussed with beneficial results by an early meeting of the Assembly?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he is aware that public anxiety in this country and elsewhere would be greatly relieved if a decision were taken to re-screen the prisoners in Korea by an impartial international commission, whether such action was agreeable to the Communist delegates at Panmunjom or not, thereby establishing a principle calculated to impress the...
Mr Frederick Cocks: Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman not agree that if this decision were taken the Communist negotiators would no longer be able to describe the screening of prisoners as a fraud, and will he say how far the discussions he has just mentioned have gone?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to the report of the Indian delegation which has recently visited China, which says that the delegation gained the impression that the Chinese Government and people were weary of the Korean war and might make peace if a face-saving formula were put forward by a neutral nation; and whether he will investigate...
Mr Frederick Cocks: Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman bear in mind the fact that India and China have been on terms of friendship for 1,000 years, and that there is no Power in Asia so capable of influencing China as India and the spiritual forces she represents?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he will propose to the United Nations organisation that those prisoners in Korea who have refused repatriation on genuinely conscientious grounds, and who have convinced the authorities of their good faith, should be allowed to leave the camps and merge with the civilian population, or, alternatively, should be entrusted to a neutral power.
Mr Frederick Cocks: Would it not tend to shorten the armistice negotiations if this were done, as, obviously, if these men are no longer in the custody of the United Nations they cannot be exchanged?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has yet received any satisfactory reply to the representations made to President Syngman Rhee in relation to the imposition of martial law and the arrest of members of the Korean Assembly.
Mr Frederick Cocks: Is it not a fact that since this Question was put down more arrests have been made by the President? As he is deliberately defying the United Nations, who are keeping him in power, will the right hon. and learned Gentleman consider reporting the matter to a special meeting of the Assembly with a view to the Assembly informing the President that if he does not act in a constitutional manner...
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what geographical limits are indicated in Government communications by the expressions Near East and Middle East; and to what extent they differ in any way from those indicated by the same expressions 50 years ago.
Mr Frederick Cocks: I do not know what the terms of that answer were, but is it true that such countries as Libya and Syria have now been transferred to the Middle East, and, if so, can the Minister say what is the justification for that?
Mr Frederick Cocks: What countries now remain in the Near East?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations whether, in view of the problems which will continue to exist in the Far East, even after the conclusion of an armistice in Korea, he will consult with the Governments of India and Pakistan with a view to arriving at a common policy.
Mr Frederick Cocks: Does not the Minister agree that these countries are in a unique position to serve the cause of peace and co-operation in Asia, and that a closely worked out policy based on agreement between them and Her Majesty's Government would be likely to produce excellent results?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many prisoners in Korea have not yet undergone the process of screening.
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what precautions have been taken to see that the 100,000 prisoners in Korea who have refused repatriation did not include many whose main motives were that they preferred the superior food and comparative immunity of the prison camps to anything they might expect under the Communist regime, including the hardships and dangers of active service.
Mr Frederick Cocks: Has the right hon. and learned Gentleman seen the statement in the American Press that the screening took two minutes for each prisoner, and does he think that that is adequate time to ascertain the motives behind a prisoner's decision?
Mr Frederick Cocks: asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs the nationality and numbers of those who have been engaged in the process of screening prisoners in Korea; and whether any Chinese interpreters from Formosa were so employed.