Chinese vice president gave Stormont minister £1,000 gift and medal

Enterprise Minister Jonathan Bell received 10,000 Renminbi (£1,072) last month along with a medal from China’s vice-president, Madam Liu Yandong.

However, the DUP minister, who has built strong personal ties to China and has frequently visited the country in recent years, said that he had donated the cash to the Confucius Institute at Ulster University, which works to strengthen ties between Northern Ireland and China and to promote Chinese language and culture in the Province.

Senior Chinese propagandist Li Changchun has described the Confucius Institute as “part of China’s foreign propaganda strategy”.

The development emerged after Mr Bell updated his register of interests at Stormont. He said that he had received the “medal of excellence” from Madam Liu, who visited Northern Ireland in 2013.

He said: “I have donated this sum to the Confucius Institute, University of Ulster to assist young students, many from disadvantaged backgrounds, to travel to China as part of their educational experience.”

Mr Bell’s register of interests also reveals that the Confucius Institute’s parent body, Hanban, paid for his travel to China during the period when he had resigned as a DUP minister last autumn.

Mr Bell was reinstated for several days while he travelled to China but the reason was not given at the time.