Colm Brophy (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson. I am very pleased today to contribute to this important debate. Ireland has a proud history of supporting the protection of human rights around the world. We are a small country but we are an independent voice on the international stage, prioritising the most vulnerable and marginalised. We are committed to the universality, indivisibility and interrelatedness of all human rights and to accountability for human rights violations and abuses. I welcome the opportunity to discuss our engagement with China and will set out how Ireland has been actively engaging with China, including on issues of concern. I will set out how Ireland engages also with the island of Taiwan.

As Senators will agree there are a number of critical issues to consider in this debate and I now want to set out the facts and clarify a number of points raised. Ireland has a positive and growing relationship with China. Although the pandemic has limited people-to-people contacts our two countries continue to reach out to one another in many ways, including through the Irish and Chinese diaspora communities. There is great potential in the relationship now and for the coming years. Ireland raises our concerns on human rights directly with other governments, including the Chinese Government, in a principled and consistent manner. As a smaller state, the multilateral system and our membership of the European Union are also key avenues through which Ireland highlights human rights concerns, with all states, including China. This is the case when it comes to the international community's grave concerns about the situation in Xinjiang. I was present for this debate in the Seanad last year as well. When I stood before the Senators last year I set out the specific concerns about Xinjiang and our disappointment with the situation was impacting negatively on our relations with China.

Our values will always remain at the forefront and weave through this Government's engagement with all partners. We have found that the most effective way to advocate for change is to engage directly with relevant authorities in concert with our partners in multilateral fora. The situation in Xinjiang resonates with the Irish public, the Government and clearly here in the Oireachtas and with the Senators today. On engaging with this issue we remain pro-human rights. We are not anti-China. As we challenge Chinese policy we do not seek to undermine Chinese sovereignty. Rather, we emphasise the obligation on the Chinese authorities to act in a manner which respects international human rights obligations. The evidence-based reports regarding serious human rights breaches in Xinjiang tell us that this has not been the case. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, had the opportunity to outline Ireland's position when he visited China in May and met with foreign minister and state councillor, Wang Yi. At that meeting, Deputy Coveney outlined our evidence-based approach and raised our concerns in an open and candid manner.

Ireland is a firm believer in the multilateral system and the mechanisms it provides for states to engage and contribute to global human rights protection. The European Union's founding values place human rights at the centre of its internal and global engagement. The EU has been vocal about highlighting the continued widespread and systemic human rights violation of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang. At the 48th UN Human Rights Council in September this year, Ireland joined an EU group statement of 26 member states which called on China to comply with its obligations under national and international law to respect and protect human rights, especially in Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia. The statement notes grave concerns about the existence of a large network of political re-education camps, widespread surveillance, systemic restrictions on freedom of religion or belief against the Uyghurs and other persons belonging to minorities, as well as by evidence-based reports about forced labour, forced sterilisation, forced birth control and sexual and gender-based violence.

In October this year, Ireland joined a cross-regional statement on the situation in Xinjiang, delivered at the UN General Assembly. The statement calls attention to the arbitrary detention of more than 1 million people in Xinjiang and the systematic human rights violations, including reports documenting torture or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. The statement called on China to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers, including the UN High Commission for Human Rights In this context, we welcome the UN High Commissioner's intention to report on human rights in Xinjiang. Ireland has long called on all states to facilitate visits to the territory of human rights experts and we have issued a standing invitation to UN special procedures to visit Ireland. In that context, we have repeatedly advocated for the High Commissioner to be allowed unfettered access to Xinjiang. On one of the comments on our UN involvement raised by Senators earlier on, I have clearly outlined there that we have a sustained and strong involvement on this issue using our UN role on the Security Council, on which we are now half way through our two-year term.

In March this year the EU agreed on a global human rights sanctions regime which allows the EU to target serious human rights violations and abuses by state and non-state actors worldwide. The agreement of sanctions against four individuals and one entity in China is designed to act as a deterrent to encourage changes in these actors' behaviour. The sanctions are based on solid legal evidence and are deployed in addition to other measures such as dialogue.

We also maintain concern about the situation in Hong Kong and the manner in which the national security law is being implemented has already given rise to concerns that many people there no longer have the freedom to express themselves. The changes to the relation system to the legislative council reduce democratic representation. I can confirm that Hong Kong was another topic that the Minister, Deputy Coveney, discussed during his visit to China. In co-ordination with EU partners Ireland has also taken practical steps including suspension of Ireland's extradition agreement with Hong Kong which clearly signals our concerns on the rule of law. At the Human Rights Council in September Ireland joined a statement of the 26 EU member states, urging Beijing and Hong Kong administrations to respect the rule of law and Hong Kong's autonomy under the One Country, Two Systems principle. The EU made a similar statement at the UN General Assembly which Ireland supported. I want to underline that the primary objective in all our human rights engagement with China remains to find meaningful improvements on the ground, including in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

I now wish to set out clearly for the Seanad the Government's agreed policy on the island of Taiwan. Successive Irish Governments have recognised the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole representative of China. Ireland, like all EU member states and the EU itself, adheres to the One China policy. This means that we do not recognise Taiwan as a state nor maintain diplomatic relations with it. This policy is a prerequisite for our diplomatic relations with China, a country of 1.4 billion people. The policy does not however preclude us from developing economic and cultural relations with Taiwan at official level. We value co-operation with Taiwan. We have a working holiday authorisation programme with Taiwan, and in 2020 estimates of bilateral trade were around €1 billion annually. The European Economic and Trade Office seeks to strengthen economic and trade relations. That office and its services are available to Irish companies and investors seeking to grow their engagement in Taiwan. Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland manage the Taiwanese market and marketplace services for Irish companies from regional offices. This reflects the Government's overseas trade and investment footprint. We do not and cannot have offices everywhere, rather we work from hubs to provide effective supports to Irish businesses.

I also wish to note, particularly in regard to Senator McDowell's contribution, on the issue of Oireachtas engagement with the Taipei representative office and with others in Taiwan. I want to be clear that the Government supports the rights of Members of the Oireachtas to engage with external parties, as they see appropriate. It remains the case that the Government is committed to the One China policy, as I have already mentioned and outlined above.

Senators will be aware of the reports of increased tension in the Pacific, particularly around Taiwan. It is clear that any conflict in the Taiwan Straits would have grave repercussions. Stability in the Pacific matters from many perspectives including global trade flows.Ireland has committed to promoting a multilateral rules-based approach to engagement in the region, anchored in international law. Ireland contributed to the European Union's new Indo-Pacific strategy, which we welcome as an opportunity to contribute to the region's stability, prosperity and sustainable development. Together with our fellow EU member states, we will continue to monitor tensions in the region and to encourage those with influence to ward against further escalation.

I take this opportunity, in response to the Senator who raised the recent newspaper article about the Irish citizen formerly working for the UN, to point out there has been engagement between both the current and former Irish ambassadors in Geneva and that individual. It is an ongoing process and it is not really appropriate for me to comment further on that. The engagement has taken place.