Ireland is beginning to follow Europe, moving to 'de-risk' its relationship with China. What are the reasons for this shift? TadghMcN explains:
Delivering an address earlier this week, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that Ireland must be “realistic and clear-eyed” about China’s strategic goals and needs to be aware that the country has a different worldview compared to Western nations.
There has been particular criticism of China’s human rights record on the country’s treatment of Uighur Muslims. “Europe and Ireland now are waking up to the reality that China’s behaviour is changing,” Dukalskis said. This leaves the door open for future cooperation, but also gives countries leeway to push back on China through diplomacy, whether that’s on human rights issues, on trade or on climate change.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also struck a similar tone in March, saying that China poses an “epoch-defining challenge to the type of international order we want to see, both in terms of security and values”, adding that the UK’s ”approach must evolve”. This, alongside a more assertive China on foreign policy in the South China Sea and on Taiwan, has lead to the EU, UK and US reexamining it’s ongoing relationship and moving towards the “de-risking” policy.
Climate change Despite the shift in relationship between European nations and China, there are still commitments to cooperate on issues such as climate change. This point was reiterated by Martin during his speech on Tuesday, who said that Ireland wanted to work “constructively” with China, particularly around addressing climate change while also dealing with human rights issues.
The sharp decline in relations initially began in 2022, after then-US Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, where she meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
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