Shotlist Beijing, China - Jan 5, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 1. Taoiseach of Ireland Micheal Martin at press briefing Beijing, China - Jan 6, 2026 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland) 2. Various of Martin, officials from China, Ireland at joint education promotion event Beijing, China - Jan 6, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Micheal Martin, Taoiseach of Ireland (partially overlaid with shots 4): "I visited here 20 years ago, and it was much different than now in terms of the advancement and the progress. I mean the modernity and the extraordinary and rapid progress in China, in terms of urbanization, in terms of the lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty through economic development and progress. That all has to be acknowledged." ++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++ China - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 4. Aerial shots of city view ++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++ Dublin, Ireland - Feb 17, 2025 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland) 5. Various of national flags of Ireland, flag of European Union Beijing, China - Jan 6, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Micheal Martin, Taoiseach of Ireland (partially overlaid with shots 7-8): "If you close off and if you disengage, problems get worse. You imagine things that are not there. You become more suspicious of the person that you're dealing with. So, my point basically is, and as a former minister of foreign affairs, diplomacy matters. Keeping dialog going matters. Keeping the channels of communication is essential because if you talk and if you keep engaging, issues can get resolved, misunderstandings can be dealt with." ++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++ 7. Martin in interview Dublin, Ireland - Sept 29, 2018 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland) 8. Irish national flag ++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++ 9. City view 10. Pedestrians Dublin, Ireland - Nov 28, 2024 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 11. Irish parliament building, river 12. River Beijing, China - Jan 6, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Micheal Martin, Taoiseach of Ireland (partially overlaid with shots 14-15): "Multilateralism is the key to reduction of conflict and war. We all agreed at the moment that the world is not in a happy place. It's a shocking situation that we have so many wars in Sudan, in Ukraine, in Gaza, and too many people, innocent people are dying. So, the world needs to take stock trying reduce the conflict. So President Xi was equally clear on this, that we do need at the UN level to try and can we recover the authority of the UN and stop these wars." ++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++ UN Headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 14. UN flag Beijing, China - Jan 6, 2026 (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 15. Martin in interview ++SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE++ UN Headquarters, New York City - Date Unknown (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland) 16. UN headquarters 17. UN emblem Storyline On his official visit to China, Taoiseach of Ireland Micheal Martin expressed his willingness to deepen cooperation with China and enhance coordination in multilateral affairs, saying that multilateralism is the key to reducing conflicts. Martin's visit to China from Jan 4 to 8 marked the first visit by an Irish government head in 14 years and Martin's first since taking office. During an interview with the China Media Group on Tuesday, Martin spoke highly of the achievements China has made over the past two decades. "I visited here 20 years ago, and it was much different than now in terms of the advancement and the progress. I mean the modernity and the extraordinary and rapid progress in China, in terms of urbanization, in terms of the lifting of hundreds of millions of people out of poverty through economic development and progress. That all has to be acknowledged," he said. Martin emphasized the cooperation between Ireland and China and stressed the crucial role of high-level dialog. He said dialog and communication is a simple and important act between people. "If you close off and if you disengage, problems get worse. You imagine things that are not there. You become more suspicious of the person that you're dealing with. So, my point basically is, and as a former minister of foreign affairs, diplomacy matters. Keeping dialog going matters. Keeping the channels of communication is essential because if you talk and if you keep engaging, issues can get resolved, misunderstandings can be dealt with," he said. In his meeting with President Xi Jinping on Monday, Martin said Ireland is willing to deepen cooperation with China in trade, investment, science and technology, biomedicine, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, education and other fields. He also commended China's indispensable and important role in international affairs and its positive contributions to upholding the authority of the UN and promoting world peace. He said the world needs to work together to reduce conflicts. "Multilateralism is the key to reduction of conflict and war. We all agreed at the moment that the world is not in a happy place. It's a shocking situation that we have so many wars in Sudan, in Ukraine, in Gaza, and too many people, innocent people are dying. So, the world needs to take stock trying reduce the conflict. So President Xi was equally clear on this, that we do need at the UN level to try and can we recover the authority of the UN and stop these wars," he said.