Luo Shugang (雒树刚), a former executive vice-minister in the CCP’s central propaganda department, met Oireachtas media and arts committee’s chairman Alan Kelly of the Labour Party, government and opposition TDs and senators in a closed-door session in Leinster House on Nov 19. Luo is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) and Chair of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the NPC.
ambassador to Ireland Zhao Xiyuan (赵希源) was also present.
Malcolm Byrne, a Fianna Fail senator, is understood to have raised the case of Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who has been imprisoned for more than 1,700 days under national security laws introduced after the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The Chinese delegation told the committee that Lai posed a subversive internal threat.
Luo has spent his entire political career within the CCP’s propaganda apparatus, which is central to Beijing’s control of information at home and its messaging abroad. His work is closely aligned with the United Front, a shadowy organization that oversees influence operations and has been targeting politicians across Ireland.
The Chinese delegation was welcomed to the Dail by Verona Murphy, the ceann comhairle, who described the engagement as a “benchmarking visit” to the Houses of the Oireachtas.
It remains unclear who arranged the meeting or for what purpose. Kelly said he was asked to host and attended out of courtesy and had not arranged it. Others in attendance said they did not know why it was organized or by whom.
The visit follows specific and high-level warnings issued to the government about Beijing’s efforts to target and befriend politicians, civil servants, academics and civic groups in Ireland and elsewhere around Europe. The threat posed by China and its intelligence services to Ireland is now rapidly overtaking that of Russia.
Luo is a significant figure in the CCP and the visit was likely to be a prelude to an increase in Chinese state propaganda activity in Ireland.
“It’s a form of covert action or covert influence. This is called the spotting phase, when you start to spot individuals who are likely susceptible to influence operations. I would expect they’re going to step up their campaigns and their influence activities.”
“What you will probably see next is invitations to conferences. It’s pretty standard for the first couple of phases of espionage and influence operations, particularly from them targeting a variety of people.”
https://thetimes.com/world/ireland-world/article/china-ccp-propaganda-official-secret-dail-meeting-989h9xtrj#…
Luo Shugang (雒树刚), a former executive vice-minister in the CCP’s central propaganda department, met 
Oireachtas media and arts committee’s chairman Alan Kelly of the Labour Party, government and opposition TDs and senators in a closed-door session in Leinster House on Nov 19. Luo is currently a member of the Standing Committee of the 