We should not stay silent over China

The carefully choreographed visit of Xi Jinping calls to mind the abject deference we once accorded to high-ranking prelates in this country, minus the ring-kissing.

Back then, no one dared question the power of the clerical shadow dictatorship.

The political and business establishments have shown the same blind, unquestioning reverence throughout the Chinese vice-president’s visit that characterised Official Ireland’s attitude to the men in purple who held sway for much of the last century. Have we have learned nothing from the Ryan and Murphy Reports? The grim silence that protected the vast system of institutional abuse was echoed eerily by the smiling politicians and captains of industry who greeted the VIP. They talked business and batted the breeze, exuding a false sense of normality. But not a word of dissent from them, not a hint of concern for the victims of a ruthless dictatorship

One needs to feels very strongly indeed about an issue to sacrifice one’s life by self immolation, as many Tibetan monks and nuns have done to draw world attention to the plight of their occupied homeland. China attempts to destroy an entire culture in Tibet, in addition to imprisoning, murdering, or torturing thousands of Tibetans who defy the Chinese New Order in their country.

Mr Jinping, if he is aware of Sinead Ni Gairbhith’s one-woman picket, might have been reminded of his native land in more than one respect. For a few chilling seconds, a little red star hovered over the Cliffs of Moher.

The action of gardaí in tearing up Sinead’s placard with its “Free Tibet” slogan offers us a glimpse of what can happen when democracy and human rights are deemed expendable in the pursuit of political supremacy or alleged economic progress. This was a blatant denial of the right to free speech, of the freedom to engage in peaceful protest.

We need foreign investment in Ireland and a strengthening of export markets, of course, but not at the price of accepting, or remaining silent about, crimes against humanity.

John Fitzgerald

Callan

Co Kilkenny