1989 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

11th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Host country	Malaysia
Dates	18–24 October 1989
Venue(s)	Langkawi
Cities	Kuala Lumpur
Chair	Mahathir Mohamad (Prime Minister)
Follows	1987
Precedes	1991
Key points
Langkawi Declaration Environmental sustainability Apartheid

The 1989 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting was the 11th Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth of Nations. It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, between 18 October 1989 and 24 October 1989, and was hosted by that country's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad.

It was dominated by the issue of sanctions on South Africa, with Britain (represented by Foreign Secretary John Major) being the only country to oppose them, on the grounds that they would end up hurting poorer South Africans far more than the apartheid regime at which they were aimed. The summit ended acrimoniously, with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher controversially and against established precedent issuing a second final communiqué stating Britain's opposition to sanctions.^[1]

The Langkawi Declaration on the Environment was agreed and issued at the CHOGM.^[2][3]

References

1. John Major (1999). John Major: The Autobiography. Harper Collins. pp. 125–28. ISBN 978-0-00-257004-6.
2. "Langkawi Declaration on the Environment 1989". Commonwealth Secretariat. 21 October 1989. Archived from the original on 2 December 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
3. Bowman, Michael; Redgwell, Catherine (1996). International Law and the Conservation of Biological Diversity. Kluwer Law International. p. 239. ISBN 978-90-411-0863-0.