I propose to take Questions Nos. 159 and 181 together.
The Taoiseach undertook an official visit to China from 17-22 January 2005. Official talks took place between Premier Wen Jiabao and the Taoiseach on 18 January in Beijing during which general bilateral relations and foreign policy issues were discussed. The Taoiseach also paid courtesy calls on Mr. Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, and Mr. Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the National People's Congress of China.
The principal focus of the Taoiseach's discussions with Premier Wen was on the rapid development of bilateral relations with China since the Taoiseach's previous visit to China in 1998. In this context, both sides welcomed the strengthening of relations evidenced in the exchanges of high-level visits, the growth in trade, and the development educational, cultural and people-to-people links. The Taoiseach and the Chinese Premier also discussed Taiwan, the EU arms embargo on China and the issue of market economy status for China. They also briefly reviewed current international issues, including the recent tsunami disaster in South East Asia. Further co-operation in the fields of agriculture, education, healthcare, tourism, software and scientific research were also discussed.
The Taoiseach and Premier Wen discussed human rights during their meeting on 18 January. The Taoiseach, while recognising the different historical perspective of Ireland and China in regard to the promotion and protection of human rights, stressed the importance that the Government attaches to China's continued progress in this area. The possibility of developing bilateral co-operation on furthering human rights norms was raised with the Chinese side.
The Taoiseach had an interesting exchange with Chairman Wu on the Chinese Government's efforts to promote human rights and the rule of law. Chairman Wu looked forward to Irish and Chinese parliamentarians continuing this dialogue at various meetings scheduled to take place during the course of this year.
Discussions on human rights issues also took place at official level during the course of the Taoiseach's visit. In particular, the Irish side raised the case of Ms. Yang Fang. Ms. Yang Fang studied in Ireland some years ago and it has been alleged that following her return to China, she was placed in detention by the Chinese authorities and has been prevented from resuming her studies in Ireland. We have raised Ms. Yang Fang's case with the Chinese authorities through the EU-China human rights dialogue, which is the agreed framework for raising individual human rights cases. On 18 January, the Chinese side reported that Ms. Yang Fang was not in detention and that she had left her employment several months ago to care for her aging mother. The Chinese side expressed regret that in two previous cases where they had responded to Irish Government representations to allow Chinese students to return to Ireland to continue their studies, the students concerned had become outspoken critics of the Chinese Government in Ireland.