Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill confirmed she will boycott White House St Patrick's Day events next month over the Gaza conflict - but faces sharp criticism for her party's continued engagement with China. The controversy erupted during heated exchanges in the Stormont Assembly, where opposition politicians questioned the perceived double standard.
O'Neill defended her stance during Assembly questions. She insisted human rights abuses are consistently raised with Chinese officials. «We've spoken quite often in this house in relation to our engagement with both Chinese officials here, or indeed, whenever the Economy Minister recently visited China, we make it very clear about their human rights abuses, we always underline that in all of our visits,» she told the Assembly.
The First Minister repeated her position from last March, when she also skipped traditional White House events with President Donald Trump. She framed her absence as a moral stand. «There is a genocide, something that is unique to our generation and I think it's important that you stand on the right side of humanity on that issue,» O'Neill stated.
Harsh criticism over China ties
Mr Burrows pressed O'Neill on what he called a glaring inconsistency. «You're still prepared to have the Economy Minister go to China, a regime that drips in blood, that crushes dissent, that is a humanitarian abuser, that oppresses Christians – you're happy to have a member of your party shake the bloody hand of Beijing, but give false reasons why you won't attend the White House?» he challenged.
O'Neill's Economy Minister, party colleague Caoimhe Archibald, visited China last year. O'Neill insisted her approach differs between Washington and Beijing. «But I'm taking a stand in terms of the role of the United States, in particular, in terms of the international community, the fact that they have turned the other way, that they have failed,» she explained. She called for a two-state solution in the Middle East.
Mr Burrows dismissed her response as a «non-answer».
Deputy First Minister will attend
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly confirmed she will attend the White House events. She told reporters at Stormont the gatherings are «incredibly important» for advocating Northern Ireland's interests. «I think that these events do provide such an incredible opportunity and there's only so many times that people would close that door before they would realise when they tried to go back and open it, that door then remains closed to them,» Little-Pengelly said.
She acknowledged disagreements with Trump, particularly over his recent NATO comments earlier this year where he referenced «some troops» who «stayed a little back, a little off the front lines». «We've also made clear where we disagree with the president, and we do disagree with them on many different occasions,» the deputy First Minister stated.
But Little-Pengelly emphasized pragmatic engagement. «We've always made clear we haven't shied away from criticising President Trump when he says things that we fundamentally disagree with, however we do engage, we recognise that this is a democratically elected president of the United States of America, the biggest global power in the world,» she said.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna will also skip the White House events. Last year, both the SDLP and Alliance boycotted the celebrations, while DUP ministers attended.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
