A Cork author's book and the Taoiseach's visit to China: In politics, there's always a local angle 

This trip is about strengthening ties with a superpower to our east which has money and influence to expend, but Ireland at the same time does not want to be a gadfly to the superpower to our west, writes Paul Hosford

Minister Micheál Martin speaks during the bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Picture: Andy Wong/AP

It being Micheál Martin, it was no surprise to hear a Cork angle.

But it being some 8,500km from the Rebel County and in the context of a meeting with the leader of a world superpower, it did jar somewhat.

Xi Jinping, Mr Martin said, had told him of how Cork-born Ethel Voynich's 1897 novel The Gadfly had sustained him during his teenage years, spent in rural China after the purging of his father in the cultural revolution. The book has long been popular with revolutionaries and was a massive seller in both the Soviet Union and China, though Ms Voynich did not receive royalties for its sales because she was not aware of its successes until the mid 50s.

Mr Martin said Mr Xi raised the book during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday morning.

“Coincidentally, I had read it as a late teenager as well, and had a first edition copy presented to me by an uncle of mine,” Mr Martin said.

“It was unusual that we ended up discussing The Gadfly and its impact on both of us, but there you are.” 

Following Mr Martin's meeting with Mr Xi, he was taken on a tour of the neighbouring Forbidden City where he passed through the Gate of Supreme Harmony and the bilateral itself took on a harmonious tone.

Mr Martin arrived at the imposing hall, just to the west of Tiananmen Square, to meet Mr Xi and become the first Taoiseach to meet the President since 2012 (though at that time when he met Enda Kenny, Mr Xi was president-in-waiting) around 10am local time. 

The two shared a handshake in the room beyond the East Door on the hall's ground floor before the traditional statements at the head of a bilateral meeting. 

In these highly-choreographed moments for the cameras, the two leaders will take turns reading prepared statements before the media is ushered out and the actual meeting begins.

Following Mr Martin's meeting with Mr Xi, he was taken on a tour of the neighbouring Forbidden City where he passed through the Gate of Supreme Harmony and the bilateral itself took on a harmonious tone. Picture: Li Xiang/Xinhua/AP

Those statements focused on the countries' similarities — we both love peace, we each achieved independence through struggle, we both love trading with one another — and while both focused on the rules-based order of which Mr Martin is a frequent proponent, it was Mr Xi who spoke in the most clear terms about America's intervention in Venezuela. China has openly condemned the US seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and its president spoke about how "unilateral bullying" is "severely impacting the international order".

The US raid on Mr Maduro took place just before Mr Martin boarded his flight to China on Saturday and it no doubt led to some hastily-arranged briefing from Iveagh House. China has been a key ally of Venezuela and has billions of dollars in investments tied up in the country and Mr Xi has been the most vocal world leader in the face of Donald Trump's strike on the South American country. 

European leaders, by contrast, have been largely permissive of the move, with some suggestion that they want to keep Mr Trump onside should any reaction cause him to drop his support for peace in Ukraine.

Asked about that idea, Mr Martin accepted that there were "moving parts" and "realpolitik" at play while avoiding any condemnation of the US, but strongly condemning Mr Maduro.

"He did a lot of damage, and was quite tyrannical in his approach and repressive as a leader," the Taoiseach said, adding it had been a "particularly brutal and repressive regime, and that created his own challenges".

While few would argue that Mr Maduro was a paragon of democratic ideals, Mr Martin was saying this in Beijing. Asked by the Irish Examiner if he had any qualms about closer ties with Mr Xi's country, he spoke at length about the need for engagement even with those with whom we disagree.

Micheál Martin, second right, talks to Chinese President Xi Jinping, third left, during the bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Picture: Andy Wong/AP

"In the modern world, engagement is still key, irrespective of the particular policy decisions or initiatives taken from time to time by individual countries," he said.

But it was a line in Mr Martin's opening remarks and the tone of his later speech to a business community which stood out as he called China "indespensible" on the world stage. 

Mr Xi has taken a noticeably more proactive approach on that stage in recent months, preparing perhaps to fill the void of a globalism-sceptical White House, but its power is more than just that. In a world where Mr Trump can upend economies through a post on social media, Ireland is uniquely exposed and China offers a buttress against that through investment. 

Already in Ireland, thousands are employed by Chinese companies such as TikTok and Ireland wants to attract more jobs and export more products. Mr Martin made this clear at a dinner in the appropriately named, but not Irish linked, Kerry Hotel on Monday evening.

This trip is about strengthening ties with a superpower to our east which has money and influence to expend, but Ireland at the same time does not want to be a gadfly to the superpower to our west.

Just like literature choices, in politics there's always a local angle.