The Chinese Ambassador to Ireland has stormed out of the Green Party conference in Dundalk after an Irish government minister appeared to suggest that Tibet was a country.
It's not yet clear whether this was an accidental slip of the tongue or a deliberate political affront.
Mr Liu Biwei had been invited to attend and participate in the weekend conference but walked out last night during a speech by Irish Green Party Leader and Environment Minister, John Gormley.
Gormley was speaking about human rights and urged China to engage with the Dalai Lama to prevent further unrest.
According to RTE, he added that one country which has been exploited and suppressed and suffered for far too long is Tibet.
Needless to say, the Chinese representative took this as a snub and emphasized that 200 countries have recognised Tibet as Chinese territory.
I'm pretty sure that Ireland's official position is that Tibet is part of China, so Gormley shouldn't expect a warm reception from his government colleague Dermot Ahern at the Dept of Foreign Affairs who will have to clean up the mess.
In an ominous and thinly veiled threat that the fallout from the perceived snub would be a strain on business relations between China and Ireland, Liu Biwei said:
'I hope our relations with Ireland, including economic relations, can go on.'
No doubt there'll be a groveling apology by Monday morning.
1 comment:
Found your blog this morning, Gary, and though I have to say that we certainly miss you for chips and dip and bad mojitos in the hutong, that I hope you're doing well in Brussels! Hope you're well and we're thinking of you!
Kate
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