Sir, - The appointment of Conor O'Clery as Irish Times correspondent in Beijing is a very welcome development to those of us with an interest in China, and his excellent reports are read with great interest. China's economy continues to develop at an astonishing rate and is having an impact on every country in the world - one only has to see the amount of goods in our shops, with the "made in China" label, to be aware of this.
Yet there is much more to China than mere economics. It is a country with an immensely long, and often tragic, history. It has a great wealth of culture and, as is well-known, inventions such as paper, gunpowder and the compass are all due to the Chinese.
The Irish Chinese Cultural Society has been in existence for about 20 years. It is a non-political society whose aim is the fostering of. interest among Irish people in all aspects of Chinese culture, as well as developing friendship with Chinese people.
Readers who wish to learn about it are invited to contact the undersigned at 2896792, or they are welcome to come to our next meeting at 22 Clyde Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, at 8 pm on, November 19th, where our president, Professor John O'Donnell, will deliver an illustrated talk "Our Trip to China", on the recent visit of some of our members to China. - Yours, etc..
Hon secretary, Monaloe Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin.