Tánaiste to signal need to ‘de-risk’ links between Ireland and China

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin is to make a major speech on Ireland’s relationship with China on Tuesday, emphasising the need to “de-risk” ties between the two countries in politics, business and academia.

Mr Martin will stress that Ireland wants to have a positive and productive relationship with China, but will also note that the two countries have different world views, values and interests, and suggest that all stakeholders with relationships in China will need to be “realistic and clear-eyed about China’s strategic objectives, and their implications for Ireland and the EU”, officials said.

Ireland’s interactions with China, the Tánaiste is expected to say, will be coloured by whether it maintains “the multilateral system with the UN Charter at its heart”.

The stress on “de-risking” the relationship with China by reducing economic dependency is occupying key figures in both Europe and the US. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has spoken recently of the need to “de-risk but not decouple” from China, and manage the relationship through diplomacy but with a clear focus on Europe’s values.

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And while the French president, Emmanuel Macron, raised alarm in Washington with a recent trip to China where he stressed the need for Europe to maintain a strong relationship with China independent of the US, the US national security adviser Jake Sullivan gave a speech on China last week which echoed many of Ms von der Leyen’s themes.

[ US-China relations are likely to determine humanity’s fate in the 21st century ]

[ China insists it respects sovereignty of ex-Soviet states after ambassador casts doubt ]

Mr Martin’s speech will also be closely in tune with the von der Leyen approach, it is expected. For Ireland, de-risking means “developing our economic and systemic resilience to in turn protect our values and interests”, aides said. The process of de-risking, he is expected to say, is not confined to Government but will affect private sector, academic and other stakeholders. But he will also stress that this does not mean “turning our backs on an economic, diplomatic and cultural relationship with China”. There are many mutually beneficial ties that we can nourish and grow, he will say.

Mr Martin will also strongly reject the framing by some of a “West against the rest” scenario. Ireland’s starting point for analysing China’s global ambitions and engagements is whether or not it upholds the multilateral system with the UN Charter at its heart, he will say. He will underline that Ireland will not be naive nor silent when it sees evidence of core principles being undermined and say that Ireland will be unambiguous in its opposition to initiatives that do not reflect the purposes and principles of the charter.

The Tánaiste will also say that Ireland’s engagement with China “will be linked to its approach to Ukraine”, officials said.

[ The EU must derisk its changing relationship with China ]

A potential role for China in mediating in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is being closely watched in European capitals and in the US. While Chinese president Xi Jinping has declared a “no limits partnership” with Russia, and Moscow relies on ties with Beijing to keep its economy afloat in the face of western sanctions, China has not supplied Russia with weapons.

After a recent telephone call between President Xi and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, China said it would appoint a peace envoy to Ukraine.

Mr Martin will deliver the keynote address at a conference at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin on Tuesday. The theme of the conference, which will hear contributions from a number of academics, is “Human (in)security in an unsettled world.”