World View: When the biggest Irish trade mission to China, led by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, arrives in Beijing on Monday a warm reception will be laid on for them. The Chinese authorities will show their eagerness to do business with a successful state like Ireland, which will be held up as an example of how to manage an economy.
There will be a certain amount of interest among the Chinese media in the Irish delegation, as recent visits to Ireland by the Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, and Vice-Premier Huang Ju have set up a strong connection between the two countries.
But as the Chinese reporters pose questions to the Taoiseach and photographers snap his handshakes it would be good moment for him to ponder the system these journalists work within.
As part of a National Union of Journalists delegation last August to report on media in China, I got an insight into that system. Newspaper editors and broadcasting directors we met were remarkably frank about what they could and could not report. Of course, they can run stories on issues such as Tibet and Taiwan, just as long as they made no mention of their pro-independence movements.
"We must obey the constitution, but we can't publish it," said Jin Fu An, vice-president of Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group which publishes 17 newspapers and magazines. The editor-in-chief of the Communist Party's People's Daily, Zhang Yannong, put it like this: "Our aim is to be responsible for people in China. We are responsible for the whole nation. Maintaining stability is one of our tasks."
That responsibility translates into a total adherence to the policies of the central government and, most importantly, never to question the authority of the government or the Communist Party.
Issues which are difficult to control such as Aids and the Sars virus threaten that authority, and when journalists try to report on these issues they can run into difficulties.
The former general manager and former editor-in-chief of the crusading Southern Metropolitan Daily in Guangdong province were jailed last year after they ran stories on a cover-up of the extent of the Sars virus and the death of a student in police custody. The charges against them were related to corruption, but observers in China say there is little doubt their jailing had to do with the content of their newspaper.
More recently, a Chinese researcher for the New York Times in Beijing has been in detention since September, accused of leaking state secrets after the newspaper broke a story that the former president, Jiang Zemin, was about to announce his retirement from the post of head of the armed forces.
There are more examples of imprisonment and harassment of journalists in China, and the media watchdog organisation Reporters Without Borders says at least 23 journalists and about 50 cyber-dissidents are in jail, "often serving long sentences, for having called for democracy or denouncing abuses on the part of the communist authorities".
But the system whereby the propaganda department of the Communist Party contacts editors to tell them what is off the agenda is not fool proof. One journalist said her magazine was closed down because it ran a cover story about an outgoing high-ranking official - the new administration apparently did not like their predecessor being featured.
When an issue moves from being taboo for journalists to a story they can run, it is often done by way of subtle signals.
Another reporter in a television station said he and his colleagues had decided before the pro-democracy demonstrations in Hong Kong last summer that they would not run the story for fear of a backlash from the authorities.
When a high-level official publicly answered questions about the protests, however, they knew this was a signal that they could cover it, albeit in a circumscribed way.
Foreign journalists also fall foul of the system and can be detained if they try to cover unsavoury stories. The Guardian correspondent in Beijing was arrested last September for photographing and speaking to Tibetan rights activists. The former Irish Times Asia Correspondent, Conor O'Clery, was detained twice while covering stories in China.
The Irish trade delegation will not be aware of these problems during their visit to China. In the big hotels where foreigners on business stay, satellite television - illegal for the ordinary Chinese person - beams news via CNN or BBC World from China and the rest of the world into your room.
The hotels will often have newspapers from abroad which ironically may contain sensitive stories that most Chinese people will be unaware of.
The veil slips occasionally, however, and visiting foreigners sometimes see the gag on the press. Last June programmes by the international networks to mark the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre were blocked. The BBC News website is permanently blocked, and should you try to access information on the Web on, say, the Falun Gong or the Taiwanese pro-independence movement, you will be told that you cannot be directed.
But just as the Chinese economy is changing so, too, has there been movement in the media. Commercial pressure on publications which must compete with hundreds of other newspapers and magazines means journalists and editors need to cover interesting and relevant stories. Also the new regime headed by President Hu Jintao has allowed criticism of local politicians on issues such as corruption and mismanagement of planning and disasters.
It is unlikely that the Taoiseach or the Ministers in his delegation will force the issue of press freedom too much while in China. In November when Huang Ju visited Ireland there was criticism when various photo-calls were organised for the event but no press conferences. When questioned about this the Government replied that the Chinese authorities had rejected the suggestion of press conferences.
China is a very important market for Ireland, but gaining a foothold in this market should not be paid for with too high a price when it comes to neglecting fundamental freedoms.
Judith Crosbie is assistant foreign editor of The Irish Times