Tough balancing act for Martin’s China trip after strongly critical speech earlier this year

News Snapshot:

MICHEÁL MARTIN IS travelling to Beijing and Shanghai for a series of political, cultural, trade, community events this week. It comes just a few months after a speech given by the Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister was said to have led to a souring of the relationship between Ireland and China. The Chinese Embassy was not impressed with a speech Tánaiste Micheál Martin gave earlier this year in which he signalled a shift in Ireland’s foreign policy in relation to China. Ireland must be “realistic and clear-eyed” about China’s strategic goals, the Tánaiste said in his address in May at...