Relationship dossier
People's Republic of China
Ireland
Relationship assessment
A strategic partnership accompanied by economic engagement and political disagreements over human rights
People's Republic of China toward Ireland
+25China established a strategic partnership with Ireland in 2012 and has pursued government engagement on mutually beneficial cooperation, including economic ties.
Ireland toward People's Republic of China
+20Ireland has engaged China through the strategic partnership established in 2012, while Irish officials have raised concerns about human rights in Xinjiang and developments in Hong Kong.
Overall relationship
+20The 2012 strategic partnership provides a durable framework for cooperation, including economic engagement. Political disagreements over human rights, Xinjiang and Hong Kong complicate the relationship, leaving it cooperative but not closely aligned.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
China and Ireland have maintained a strategic partnership for mutually beneficial cooperation since 2012, alongside government engagement on economic and other ties. Relations also include political friction: Irish officials have raised concerns about human rights in Xinjiang and developments in Hong Kong. The partnership is substantive but constrained by differences over these issues.
Areas of tension
- Irish concerns about human rights in Xinjiang
- Irish concerns about developments in Hong Kong
Key developments
China and Ireland established a strategic partnership for mutually beneficial cooperation.
Major uncertainties
- The current scope and implementation of bilateral cooperation under the strategic partnership are unclear.
- The extent to which human-rights disagreements have affected government-to-government cooperation is unclear.