Madam, - Judith Crosbie writes (World View, January 15th): "It is unlikely that the Taoiseach or the Ministers in his delegation will force the issue of press freedom while in China". You can bet your last yuan that he won't. Just as unlikely as a Chinese delegation referring to recent corrupt practices by senior politicians and officials in our much-vaunted democratic isle.
Press freedom is one of the distinguishing marks of democracy in the Western world and a thing to be treasured; but, having spent some time in China, I know it is highly unreal in existing circumstances there. Absolute control from above is accepted as the only way to maintain a unified state - this has been the thinking for some 2000 years during China's Confucian past and since the advent of Communist rule in 1949. Adapted to suit Chinese conditions, the system to an amazing degree has lifted the masses of people from utter poverty to a better way of life, from servitude to aspiration to being a world power.
Why is China quickly becoming the economic giant, attracting far more investment than any other developing country? The answer lies in the enormous drive for development and the opening-up to the outside world begun by the wise and practical leader Deng Xiaoping. Central to his policy was that economic reform should take precedence over political reform. The economy's staggering success will make it more likely that a more open political order will take hold when it does come. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN J.FALLON, Boyle, Co Roscommon.
Madam, - It seems to me that Ireland's foreign policy is now more influenced by economic issues than by any morality. China is still a Communist dictatorship opposed to any move to democracy and is illegally occupying Tibet, contrary to UN wishes. Why is Ireland, along with most of the West, further legitimising this regime which routinely imprisons and tortures its own people?
Would it not be better for Europe, America and the rest of the democratic world to unite and insist on a planned introduction of democracy into China by a certain date? If this doesn't happen we should suspend all economic links and impose sanctions. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL LOGAN, Tyrconnell Park, Dublin 8.