At the end of June, an Irish Parliamentary delegation visited Taiwan on a 5 day trip to exchange views on Taiwan-Ireland relations, economic resilience and the situation in the Taiwan strait. The delegation was led by John McGuinness (FF), chairman of the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Society as well as Brendan Smith (FF), Sean Kyne (FG), Martin Conway (FG) and Cathal Berry (Ind). They met with many of Taiwan's elected representatives across multiple government departments.
I caught up with Deputy Cathal Berry (@BerryCathal) independent TD for the constituency of Kildare South at his office in Portarlington upon his return home to get his impressions from the trip. We talked about Ireland-Taiwan relations, the re-opening of Ireland's trade office in Taipei, the situation in the Taiwan strait, the impact of the incessant cyber attacks and disinformation campaigns by the Chinese Communist Party targeting Taiwan's upcoming presidential election and China influence operations in Ireland.
Additional information and perspectives on the topics discussed can also be found in the DIVE DEEPER section below, as well as my earlier Blogpost on The One China "Consensus".
Date of recording: July 10th, 2023.
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| Irish delegation visiting Taiwan, June 2023 (MOFA photo) |
DIVE DEEPER
Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode;
- Dr Cathal Berry TD, website
- Irish parliamentary delegation arrives in Taiwan - Kelvin Chen, Taiwan News (June 28th, 2023)
- The Many "One Chinas": Multiple Approaches to Taiwan and China - Chong Ja Ian, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Feb 9th, 2023)
- Senior Chinese Communist Party figure meets government ministers in Ireland - John Mooney, The Sunday Times (July 9th, 2023)
- Involuntary Returns - report exposes long-arm policing overseas - Safeguard Defenders (Jan 18th, 2022)
- Hong Kong police issue arrest warrants for eight overseas activists - James Pomfret and Jessie Pang, Reuters (July 3rd, 2023)
