From Leinster House to Beijing: how Micheál Martin used a China trip to steady his leadership

A tightly managed Beijing visit offered Micheál Martin diplomacy, distraction, and a reminder of Ireland’s precarious global positioning

Taoiseach Micheál Martin met with Chinese premier Li Qiang in Bejing during the week. Picture: Government of Ireland/PA

For a man who spent months fighting accusations of a centralisation of power, Micheál Martin's first foreign trip of 2026 to China was serendipitous.

Having survived internal dissent in Fianna Fáil over the Jim Gavin presidential election debacle, Mr Martin was perhaps glad of the invitation to meet president Xi Jinping in Beijing in the first week of the year, maybe finding a warmer welcome in The Great Hall of the People than in the de Valera Room in Leinster House.