Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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124. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the official position of Ireland on the actions of the Chinese Communist Party towards the Muslim Uighur population. [29897/21]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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125. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the motions passed by the Canadian and Dutch Parliaments that the actions of the Chinese government towards its Uighur population constitutes genocide. [29898/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 124 and 125 together.

Ireland, along with our EU partners, remains deeply concerned about the treatment of Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the province of Xinjiang. We are closely following the situation, including in relation to reports of systemic abuse, torture, arbitrary detention, forced labour, forced sterilisations, and restrictions on freedom of religion and belief. 

We raise our concerns with Chinese authorities in both bilateral and multilateral contexts. Most recently, I directly raised the matter during my meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 30 May.

Ireland also raised concerns regarding the situation in Xinjiang in our National Statement at the UN Human Rights Council in March this year, and previously in our National Statement at the UN Human Rights Council in September last year, which urged China to allow unrestricted access to the region for the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Ireland has also supported a number of joint initiatives in the UN system. We joined a Statement at the UN Third Committee on 6 October 2020 that reiterates our grave concern regarding the situation in Xinjiang, and recalls the exceptional letter of concern issued by 50 UN Special Procedures mandate holders. This letter called on China to respect human rights and to allow immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers. 

In response to the situation, under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EUGHRSR), the EU adopted sanctions on 22 March 2021 against 1 entity and 4 individuals in China due to their involvement in human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The EUGHRSR allows the EU to target serious human rights violations and abuses by State and non-State actors worldwide. It enables the EU to respond rapidly and in a more tangible and direct way for human rights, one of the fundamental values of the EU and its foreign policy.

Regarding the use of the term “genocide” in relation to this situation, this is a term which has a particular meaning under international law. The recognition of events definitively as genocide involves an analysis of both facts and law. Ireland follows the practice of recognising genocide where this has been established by a judgment of an international court, or where there is international consensus on the matter.

An approach whereby the EU, its Member States and other like-minded States continue to press for better access to the region, particularly for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, to better establish the realities on the ground is more likely to achieve progress. This is an issue that Ireland and the EU takes extremely seriously and the Government will continue to monitor and assess the situation and engage with Chinese authorities bilaterally and in multilateral fora to address our concerns.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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126. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the progress made in relation to the continued detention of a person (details supplied) by Chinese authorities. [29899/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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This is a complex case involving an Irish citizen who has been prevented from leaving China since March 2019.  My Department has been providing ongoing consular assistance to the citizen since that time through our Consular Assistance Unit in Dublin, our Embassy in Beijing and our Consulate General in Shanghai, while he and his legal teams work on the legal, commercial and financial issues through the appropriate channels. Our Consul General has met and engaged very regularly with the citizen, and continues to provide all possible consular advice and support. 

There has also been extensive and regular engagement at the most senior political and diplomatic level with the Chinese authorities in Beijing and Shanghai, and with the Embassy of China in Dublin, in relation to the humanitarian aspects of this case, and the importance of the citizen being allowed to return home as soon as possible. During my recent visit to China I discussed the case with a view to achieving an early resolution of the matter.

As the Deputy will appreciate, as with all consular cases, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific details of the case.  However, I can assure the Deputy that my Department will continue to provide all possible consular assistance to the citizen until he is permitted to return to Ireland.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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127. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the process and criteria for expelling an ambassador; if he has considered expelling any nation's ambassador since 2010; and if so, the details of same. [29900/21]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Diplomatic relations between States, and the exchange of Ambassadors among States, are addressed by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, as transposed into Irish law by the Diplomatic Relations and Immunities Act 1967. 

Article 9 of the Convention allows for the receiving State to notify the sending State that the Ambassador, or any member of the diplomatic staff, is persona non grata. In such cases the sending State shall recall the person concerned. Diplomats are rarely expelled and this provision is rarely used, but it provides a potential sanction, in particular in response to illicit activities by members of diplomatic Missions. The expulsion of an Ambassador, for reasons other than abuse of diplomatic functions or criminal behaviour, would likely lead to a reciprocal expulsion of the Irish Ambassador to the State concerned, and could potentially give rise to the breaking off of diplomatic relations.

Our Embassies overseas are drivers of our bilateral relations, enabling us to maintain open lines of international communication, enabling  the conveyance of concerns directly to Governments, including in difficult circumstances. In Ireland, Ambassadors and other officials of Embassies frequently engage with officials from my Department on a wide range of issues.  I frequently meet with Ambassadors accredited to Ireland. Such exchanges are a key channel of communication between the Irish Government and foreign Governments.