September 3, 2001

DUBLIN (AP)--Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern used a meeting with Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to raise his concerns about China's human rights record, while Irish protesters used paint bombs and eggs to express theirs.

Ahern, appearing at a news conference with Zhu, said their talks had been "frank and friendly." China's treatment of Tibetans and the Falun Gong [group] were discussed, he said.

He said he also raised the case of Zhao Ming, a post-graduate student at Trinity College, Dublin, who reportedly was arrested during a visit to China in 1999 and sent to a labor camp.

The Chinese leader said he and Ahern discussed their differences as friends.

Zhu took exception when a reporter asked whether China was prepared to abide by international standards on human rights. Saying that the reporter was leaping to assumptions, Zhu offered his questioner a free trip to China to see the situation for himself.

[...]

Later, Zhu's vehicle was pelted with red paint bombs and eggs as it arrived for an official dinner at Dublin Castle.

Nearly 200 protesters carried placards reading "Free Zhao Ming" and "Solidarity with Chinese workers - No welcome for the butchers of Tiananmen Square."

Irish Labor Party leader Ruairi Quinn boycotted the dinner.

"The most appropriate way for me to convey the concerns that the Labor Party has...about human-rights abuses in China is for me not to attend," he said.

"I think China must be welcomed into the world's community, I think it should become a member of the World Trade Organization, but economic liberalization must come hand-in-hand with human-rights freedoms as well."

[...]