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Hong Kong

Volume 113: debated on Monday 30 March 1987

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asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer on 2 December 1986, Official Report, column 542, to the hon. Member for Stockton, North on the responsibilities of Her Majesty's Government for the people of Hong Kong, whether contingency plans exist in the event of a nuclear accident at the Daya bay nuclear power station necessitating evacuation for refuge in the United Kingdom for citizens of Hong Kong seeking refuge.

The Hong Kong Government are preparing plans to make all possible provision for ensuring the safety of Hong Kong people in the event of an accident at the nuclear power station now under construction at Daya bay. The Hong Kong Government intend to complete these plans well before the station is commissioned in 1992.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer on 2 December 1986, Official Report, column 542, to the hon. Member for Stockton, North on the responsibilities of Her Majesty's Government for the people of Hong Kong, if he will provide an estimate of how much money Britain has earned from Hong Kong over the last decade.

Commercial and financial transactions between Britain and Hong Kong are complex and their net value cannot readily be estimated. Although Hong Kong is, after Japan, the UK's second largest export market in the Far East, for many years, the visible trade balance has been in Hong Kong's favour. No reliable estimate of capital flows is available.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether Her Majesty's Government will now provide a contingency fund for assistance to businesses in Hong Kong in the event of an accident at Daya bay nuclear power plant; and whether his Department has made any estimate of the likely cost of a worst case nuclear accident at Daya bay under adverse meteorological conditions.

Any question of assistance to businesses in Hong Kong is a matter for the Hong Kong Government. The Hong Kong Government have requested their consultants, the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, to prepare an accident assessment report on the Daya bay power station. Once this report has been received and examined, the Hong Kong Government will consider the possible implications for Hong Kong of any accident at the Daya bay plant.