China’s foreign minister Wang Yi will meet Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris in Dublin on Monday after telling European leaders that they should have a role in any peace negotiations over Ukraine.
Senior officials from the United States and Russia will be in Saudi Arabia this week to prepare for a summit on Ukraine that will not include the European Union or Kyiv. But Mr Wang told the Munich Security Conference that China believed Europe should be involved in any talks about the future of Ukraine.
“This war is happening on European soil, and Europe should play an important role in the process to work together to address the root cause of the crisis and discuss how to achieve long-term stability and security of Europe, find a way that is acceptable to all sides to achieve just, balanced and sustainable European security architecture,” he said.
Mr Wang, who is also a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, reaffirmed Beijing’s message during meetings with his German, French and Spanish counterparts. He told Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy that “China supports all efforts conducive to peace and supports Europe’s important role in the peace talks”.
Mr Wang’s appearance in Munich followed a speech on Friday by US vice-president JD Vance calling on European leaders to embrace parties of the far-right. Mr Vance caused outrage in Germany by meeting representatives from the extreme-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in advance of next week’s federal elections.
The Chinese foreign minister met the Social Democratic chancellor Olaf Scholz, Christian Democrat leader Friedrich Merz and foreign minister Annalena Baerbock from the Greens. But he did not meet anyone from the AfD, which has expressed support for friendlier relations with China and Russia, telling Ms Baerbock that “as Germany is about to hold general elections, China does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries”.
Mr Wang’s meetings in Munich and his visit to Dublin come as Beijing has sought to present itself as a reliable and predictable partner in contrast to Washington under Donald Trump. He told the conference in Munich that China wanted to work within the rules-based international order and reform it rather than to start a new system of global governance.
“There is a country that is withdrawing from international treaties and organisations, and I think in Europe you can feel chills almost every day. As for China, it is growing in the existing order. China is a beneficiary of the existing order, so what China is doing and will do is, as most countries expect, to move the order in a more just and reasonable direction,” he said.
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“People might have different understandings of rules, but I think we can agree on the point that we need to safeguard the UN-centred international system, observe the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.”
Mr Wang’s talks in Dublin are likely to focus on the EU-China relationship, Ukraine and the Middle East as well as on bilateral relations between Ireland and China. When Mr Martin last met Mr Wang in Beijing in November 2023 they also discussed China’s human rights record, including in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.
Ireland is unusual in enjoying a trade surplus with China, the country’s fifth largest trading partner, worth €4 billion in 2023 although total trade in goods and services fell to €36.6 billion from €45 billion in 2022. Chinese companies – including ByteDance, which owns TikTok – Shein, Bank of China and Huawei employ more than 5,000 people in Ireland.
