Mr. Bertie Ahern, the Prime Minister of Ireland, visited Tsinghua and delivered a speech in the Main Building on January 18.

Tsinghua President Gu Binglin, Ms. Wu Qidi, Vice Minister of Ministry of Education, P.R.C., and Mr. Zhang Yesui, Vice Minister of Ministry of Foreign Affairs greeted Mr. Ahern and had a friendly talk with him.

After the talk, Mr. Ahern delivered a speech entitled “ Ireland & China : Friendship and Cooperation” in the Reception Hall of the Main Building . President Gu hosted the speech and gave the welcoming address.

During his speech, Mr. Ahern briefly reviewed the relations between Ireland and China, holding that the two countries are enjoying good relations in the fields such as economy, culture and education. He emphasized the importance of friendship and cooperation to the two countries. Talking about the cooperation in education, he pointed out that the number of young Chinese students in Ireland has grown in recent years.

“We want to strengthen contacts between Chinese universities, including Tsinghua University , and their Irish counterparts. In Ireland we have a respected and high quality English language educational system. This has been one of the chief engines driving our economic success. I would invite the students here today to consider studying at one of our educational institutions in Ireland ,” said the Prime Minister.

After the speech, Mr. Ahern answered several questions from students on environment protection and educational exchanges.

Reported by Li Han