The Consultative Forum on International Security Policy took place in Ireland from June 22nd to 27th across three different locations. The initial session was held at UCC with subsequent sessions taking place at UCG and Dublin Castle. The forum was chaired by Louise Richardson DBE and brought together an extensive range of experts who shared their insights on a wide variety of topics including cyber security, lessons from Ireland's UN security council membership, peacekeeping, neutrality, the triple lock, NATO and much more. While Russia's invasion of Ukraine was top of mind for many, China's increasing assertiveness and ongoing support for Russia was less to the fore.
Professor Andrew Cottey (@andrewcottey) who is the EU Jean Monnet Chair in European Political Integration at the Department of Government and Politics at UCC was among the panel of experts. His research interests include Chinese foreign policy, Sino-European relations and European relations with the Asia-Pacific region.
I sat down with him on the third day of the forum in Dublin to talk about China's increasing assertiveness, the perception of China in Ireland, Confucius Institutes, China's influence and disinformation operations and much more.
Date of Recording: June 26th, 2023.
DIVE DEEPER
Additional information and references on the topics covered in this episode;
- Professor Andrew Cottey, Research Profile
- Consultative Forum on International Security Policy - link
- President Ursula von der Leyen's speech on EU-China relations from March 30th, 2023
- Putin flaunts alliance with Xi as 'dear friends' meet in Kremlin - Reuters (March 21st, 2023)
- China-EU - international trade in goods statistics, eurostat, February 2023
