MINISTER FOR Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin has expressed confidence that the decision by Green Party leader John Gormley to describe Tibet as a country will not damage Irish-Chinese trade links.
Mr Martin echoed Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern in playing down the incident which saw the Chinese ambassador Liu Biwei walk out from the Green Party annual conference in Dundalk, Co Louth, at the weekend in protest at Mr Gormley's remarks.
However, Mr Martin said he was confident the Irish business community had built up strong links with the business community in China which would prove resilient and trade between the two countries would continue to grow.
The ambassador, who had been invited by the Greens to its conference, immediately left the hall after Mr Gormley described Tibet as a country and urged the Chinese government to open talks with the Dalai Lama.
Afterwards Mr Liu said that Mr Gormley's comments were not acceptable and he left the conference to show his "strong protests". He later added that Mr Gormley's "personal perspective" could "do nothing good" for relations.
"We want to have good relations with the Irish people and I hope our relations, including our economic relations, can still go on," said the ambassador, speaking through an interpreter, when asked about the implications of Mr Gormley's remarks.