Ireland, like many small countries dependent on China’s economy, tries to avoid openly singing the opposite of China on sensitive issues. But as it becomes more apparent that China is trying to overthrow the Western democratic order, Ireland may be forced to step in and take a tougher stance against China.
In recent days, a growing debate in Ireland over huawei‘s impact on academic freedom there, the prolonged detention of a businessman in Shanghai and the deteriorating human rights situation in China are changing Dublin’s view of Beijing.
Niall Duggan, a lecturer in the Department of Political Management at the University of Cork in Ireland, told Voice of America, “The naive assumption that companies and individuals in Ireland will not be affected by fundamental issues of political and legal freedom in China is over.”
Late last month, four Irish lawmakers joined the Inter-Parliamentary Policy Alliance on China (IPAC), a transnational coalition of political parties that aims to coordinate a hard-line approach to China in order to defend democratic countries from Chinese encroachment on their political systems.
Ireland wants to trade with China,” Irish Republican Senator Malcolm Byrne told the Voice of America. But Beijing is wrong in its treatment of the Uighurs, Tibet, Hong Kong, and in its illegal detentions. We cannot turn a blind eye to the growing violations of human rights and the rule of law by the Chinese Communist Party.”
Bourne, who joined IPAC, does not support Beijing’s hosting of the Winter Olympics next year, saying “the Chinese Communist Party should not be given the opportunity to promote it.”
Tightening relations
Several recent events have intensified the Irish public’s skepticism of Beijing.
The most high-profile is the case of Irish citizen Richard O’Halloran, who has been detained by China since February 2019, after he flew to Shanghai to settle a business dispute with his employer, China International Aviation Leasing Services.
which is accused of using a lending scheme to defraud Chinese investors. Although O’Halloran himself has not been charged with any crime, he has been barred from leaving China. The Irish government is negotiating his return to the country.
Another case involves an attempt by Chinese technology giant Huawei to violate academic freedom in Ireland. Huawei had sent a letter to Ireland’s defense minister complaining about an article published in a defense journal late last year. According to the article, Huawei has an “ambiguous relationship” with the Chinese government, and allowing the company to operate Ireland’s 5G network poses a risk.
According to a copy of the letter recently obtained by The Irish Times, Huawei asked for the government’s “full support in mitigating the damage already done.”
Richard Maher, a lecturer in political science at the University of Dublin who wrote the article, was surprised by Huawei’s approach, which he said led to more concern about the risks posed by the company because of its response.
Maher told the Voice of America, “Huawei’s decision to go to the highest levels of the Irish government to criticize my article is highly unusual. Huawei’s reaction to the article once again exemplifies the risk of including the company’s equipment in Ireland’s 5G mobile network.”
Moving away from dependence
Ireland is in the same predicament as many Western democracies, relying on China’s massive consumer market but increasingly uneasy with Beijing’s aggressive international behavior.
In fact, Ireland is one of the few countries with a trade surplus with China, exporting about 4.35 billion euros more in goods than it imported last year. Data from Statistics Ireland show that Ireland’s exports and imports to China both showed double-digit growth in 2020.
Ireland is a small country with a less confrontational foreign policy than most Western countries, relying more on internal bargaining to achieve diplomatic goals than on megaphone diplomacy, according to academic Dargan.
The most likely response from the Irish leadership will be to increase policy efforts to try to avoid over-reliance on China in any area,” he said. So you’ll see the government encouraging more companies to enter areas like 5G networks and reducing the influence of companies like Huawei.”
At the same Time, Ireland has increased its voice in the international community. Ireland was one of 39 countries that issued a joint U.N. statement last year condemning the Chinese government’s massive human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet. It also comes after Ireland suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong.
Earlier this month, the University of Cork in Ireland announced it was abandoning plans to establish a joint institute with China’s Nationalities University. The university did not give a reason for dropping the project, but 50 academics from the university had requested a report to investigate whether the Nationalities University had links to human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Irish Unity Party MP Neale Richmond, who said he is considering joining IPAC, said public concern in Ireland over humanitarian issues in China will prevent Ireland and the European Union from deepening economic ties with China.
Richmond told VOA: “It is important that the Irish government and partners within the EU continue to express strong views on clear concerns. Current humanitarian concerns will have a significant impact on the EU’s ability to conclude any deeper trade relationship with China.”
Senator Byrne said, “Our government is raising our concerns with the Chinese Communist Party, but if Beijing continues to take certain actions, then I believe that in cooperation with our EU member states and other countries that share our concerns, we need to take tougher action.”
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