On November 8 2023, Michael Martin, Ireland's Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affiars, visited Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU). During his visit, he delivered a speech and engaged in dialogue with both Chinese and international faculty and students.
In his welcome address, Wang Dinghua, secretary of the CPC BFSU committee, expressed warm greetings to the deputy prime minister. Wang highlighted BFSU's role as a leader in foreign language education and country and area studies in China, as well as its reputation as the "cradle of diplomats".
Wang made special mention of BFSU's longstanding commitment to Irish studies, emphasizing the significant achievements the university had made in the teaching and research of Irish literature, history, culture, politics, economics and international relations since the establishment of its Centre for Irish Studies in 2007. He also thanked the Irish government and universities for supporting BFSU's Irish studies.
Wang encouraged faculty members and students at BFSU to continue enhancing their professional capabilities and contributing to global peace, development, cultural exchanges and mutual learning.
Martin delivered a speech on Sino-Irish relations and Ireland's foreign policy. He said that BFSU enjoys a high reputation as a first-class university for diplomacy, culture and language research. He was very happy that Irish is one of the 101 languages taught at BFSU. Since its establishment, the BFSU Irish Studies Center has actively promoted Irish culture and engaged in Irish studies. In particular, in 2022, Professor Wang Zhanpeng and Professor Chen Li of BFSU won the "The Presidential Distinguished Service Award", which is a high recognition of BFSU's achievements in promoting cultural exchanges between China and Ireland. He said that he would promote cooperation between the two countries in maintaining world peace, economic and trade cooperation, cultural exchanges and other fields, and jointly face global governance challenges.
In the subsequent interactive dialogue session, Martin had a dialogue with Professor Wang Zhanpeng and Professor Chen Li. They had in-depth exchanges on issues such as China-Ireland cultural exchanges and the development of the China-Irish studies academic community. He also had a lively discussion with teachers and students on site on topics such as China-Irish educational exchanges and cooperation, personnel exchanges after the recovery of the tourism industry, and Ireland's role in global climate governance.
Domestic Irish music enthusiasts performed music for the teachers and students on site using traditional Irish instruments. The Irish teachers and students of BFSU recited the famous poem "When You Are Old" by the Irish poet Yeats in Chinese, English and Irish. Martin was invited to the stage to participate in the Irish recitation, and the atmosphere was lively.
After the exchange, Wang Dinghua presented Martin with a calligraphy work of "China-Ireland Friendship Lasts Forever" and a photo of Martin's first visit to BFSU in 2010. Martin presented BFSU with some books.
Afterwards, Martin visited the BFSU Irish Studies Center at the School of English and International Studies and held discussions with teachers and students. He congratulated the Irish Studies Center on its achievements and pointed out that there is great potential for Sino-Irish educational cooperation and encouraged more students to go to Ireland for study and exchange.
