The most important fact about the Richard O’Halloran story is that he is home. Re-united, after three long years, with his wife Tara, and their three children. That is a good news story, and it is to the credit of the Irish Government, and their negotiators, that Mr. O’Halloran has been returned safely to Ireland.
Mr. O’Halloran is now safely at home. The focus should now turn to the safety of other Irish Citizens, who may find themselves in China, and targets of a state – increasingly a rogue state – that has shown it has no compunction about kidnapping foreign citizens for ransom. Because a ransom is exactly what it was, as it turns out:
Mr O’Halloran was reunited with his family in Dublin Airport this morning after he was permitted to leave China following an enforced stay of almost three years.
Significant payments will continue to Chinese authorities for years following a deal struck to enable his return.
There is a strong case for cancelling these payments. This is, after all, not a “deal”. A deal that involves money in return for the release of a hostage is not an ordinary transaction. It is a ransom payment, or blackmail, or anything else you wish to call it, but it is not a “deal”. The Irish media, in referring to it as such, are grossly mis-stating the nature of what has happened, and what our government has agreed to.
There are downsides both to continuing to make the payments, and to refusing to pay another penny. Let’s start with the risks of honouring the ransom payment: It will encourage future such actions by China. China has now learned that, when it kidnaps a western citizen, it can extort money and political leverage in return. We do not know, for example, how much – it at all – the kidnapping of Richard O’Halloran has impacted the minds of Irish negotiators dealing with China on trade, or agriculture, or investment policy over the last three years, but it would be naïve in the extreme to think that an Irish diplomat discussing any of those issues did not have O’Halloran’s case in the back of their minds. China gained a ransom payment here, but they may have gained much more from us besides, either consciously, or unconsciously, as a result of this action.
There is now little to stop them repeating this – in fact, O’Halloran was not even their first victim. They did the same to two Canadians – Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor – who were finally released last year, having been held hostage for more than three years. There, China wanted the return of a Chinese businesswoman charged with crimes in Washington. If the west continues to tolerate this, there will be more and more western hostages taken, when it suits China, and some of these may be Irish.
There is an argument to be made that it is worth spitting in China’s eye on this one. We have our hostage back, and now they can whistle for their payments. We could do this for no other reason than that it might send a strong message to the Chinese that Ireland will not tolerate this kind of behaviour.
But, who are we kidding? Dublin will not do such a thing. It agreed the payments, and they will now be made.
And perhaps, that is wise. After all, China might simply demand all the money up front, next time. The Irish Government are not renowned for picking fights with superpowers, and they are probably right. We should not feel bound by this agreement, but at the same time, honouring it is probably the sensible, moderate, course.
The broader picture here is that there should, immediately, be a major re-assessment of how Ireland views China.
China is not an “opportunity” for Ireland, and never has been. It is a threat, and a foe. It is single-handedly responsible for many of the problems that the Irish establishment claims to stand opposed to: On Climate Change, for example, it is a rogue state, dramatically expanding its emissions footprint even as Irish families face the ever-rising burden of carbon tax. In terms of global peace, it is a belligerent, constantly threatening neighbours like Taiwan. It supports and maintains the brutal regime in North Korea, and persecutes minorities within its own borders.
Despite all of this, Ireland’s diplomatic attitude towards China could only be fairly described, over the last decade, as “toadying”. We have prostrated ourselves before them in return for a few crumbs from the table of their rapacious consumption – selling them baby formula and meat, apparently, is more important than anything else.
With Richard O’Halloran, the Chinese have shown us their true face. They are not our friends. Friends do not do what China has done in this case, which is to have taken an Irish person as a hostage, and demanded money for his release. Those are the actions of an enemy.
Neutral, we might be. But this episode should clearly demonstrate where Irelands’ interests lie. And they do not lie in Beijing.