[News] Chinese investments in Israel grew exponentially from $50m in the early 1990s to a whopping $16.5bn

[Anti-Imperialist News]

*For years, China has**maintained 
<https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/china-supports-palestine-with-e-jerusalem-its-capital/1004868>**a 
consistent (sic) position in support of the Palestinian people, calling 
for an end to the Israeli Occupation and the establishment of an 
independent Palestinian state. However, Beijing’s firm position 
regarding the rights of Palestinians, seems of little consequence to its 
relationship with Israel, as joint technological ventures, trade, and 
investments continue to grow unhindered.
____________________________
*
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/it-is-a-new-era-but-chinas-balancing-act-will-fail-in-the-middle-east/ 



  It Is a New Era, but China’s Balancing Act Will Fail in the Middle East

October 31, 2018
------------------------------------------------------------------------

*By Ramzy Baroud <http://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/ramzy-baroud>*

Although ties between Washington and Tel Aviv are stronger than ever, 
Israeli leaders are aware of a vastly changing political landscape. The 
US’ political turmoil and the global power realignment – which is on 
full display in the Middle East – indicate that a new era is, indeed, in 
the making.

Unsurprisingly, this new era involves China.

China’s Vice President, Wang Qishan, arrived inIsrael 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/Israel.html> on October 22 on 
a four-day visit to head the fourth China-Israel Innovation Committee. 
He is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Israel in nearly two 
decades.

In April 2000, the former president ofChina 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/topics/country/China.html>, Jiang Zemin, was 
the first Chinese leader ever to visit Israel, touring the Yad Vashem 
Holocaust Museum and paying diplomatic dues to his Israeli counterparts. 
At the time, he spoke of China’s intentions to cement the bond between 
the two countries.

Wang Qishan’s visit, however, is different. The “bond” between Beijing 
and Tel Aviv is much stronger now than it was then, as expressed in 
sheer numbers. Soon after the two countries exchanged diplomatic 
missions in 1992, trade figures soared. The size of Chinese investments 
in Israel also grew exponentially, from$50m 
<https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/China-Israel-relations-are-bound-to-blossomHE-GAO-YANPING-347495> 
in the early 1990s to a whopping $16.5bn according to 2016 estimates.

China’s growing investments and strategic ties to Israel are predicated 
on both countries’ keen interest in technological innovation, as well as 
on the so-called “Red-Med” Railway, a regional network of sea and rail 
infrastructureaimed 
<https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/385-chaziza-the-red-med-railway-new-opportunities-for-china-israel-and-the-middle-east/> 
at connecting China with Europe via Asia and the Middle East. 
Additionally, the railway would also link the two Israeli ports of Eilat 
and Ashdod.

News of China’s plan to manage the Israeli port of Haifa has already 
raised the ire of the US and its European allies.

Times have changed, indeed. Whereas in the past, Washingtonordered 
<https://www.mepc.org/journal/israel-china-relations-and-phalcon-controvers> 
Tel Aviv to immediately cease exchanging American military technology 
with China, forcing it to cancel the sale of the Phalcon airborne 
early-warning system, it is now watching as Israeli and Chinese leaders 
are managing the dawn of a new political era that – for the first time – 
does not include Washington.

For China, the newfound love for Israel is part of a broader global 
strategy that can be considered the jewel of China’s revitalized foreign 
policy.

Qishan’s visit to Israel comes on the heels of accelerated efforts by 
Beijing to promote its mammoth trillion-dollar economic project,the Belt 
and Road Initiative 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/countingthecost/2017/05/china-mission-reinvent-silk-road-170513082301640.html> 
(BRI).

China hopes that its grand plan will help it open massive new 
opportunities across the world and eventually guarantee its dominance in 
various regions that rotated, since World War II, within an American 
sphere of influence. BRI aims to connect Asia, Africa, and Europe 
through a “belt” of overland routes and a maritime “road” of sea lanes.

The China-US competition is heating up. Washington wants to hold on to 
its global dominance for as long as possible while Beijing is eagerly 
working to supplant the US’ superpower status, first in Asia, then in 
Africa and the Middle East. The Chinese strategy in achieving its 
objectives is quite clear: unlike the US’ disproportionate investments 
in military power, China is keen on winning its coveted status, at least 
for the time being, using soft power only.

The Middle East, however, is richer and, thus, more strategic and 
contested than any other region in the world. Rife with conflicts and 
distinct political camps, it is likely to derail China’s soft power 
strategy sooner rather than later. While Chinese foreign policy managed 
to survive the polarising war in Syria through engaging all sides and 
playing second to Russia’s leading role at the UN Security Council, the 
Israeli Occupation of Palestine is a whole different political challenge.

For years, China hasmaintained 
<https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/china-supports-palestine-with-e-jerusalem-its-capital/1004868> 
a consistent position in support of the Palestinian people, calling for 
an end to the Israeli Occupation and the establishment of an independent 
Palestinian state. However, Beijing’s firm position regarding the rights 
of Palestinians, seems of little consequence to its relationship with 
Israel, as joint technological ventures, trade, and investments continue 
to grow unhindered.

China’s foreign policymakers operate with the mistaken assumption that 
their country can be pro-Palestine and pro-Israel at once, criticizing 
the Occupation, yet sustaining it; calling on Israel to respect 
international law while at the same time empowering Israel, however 
unwittingly, in its ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights.

Israeli hasbara has perfected the art of political acrobats, and finding 
the balance between US-western discourse and a Chinese one should not be 
too arduous a task.

Indeed, it seems that the oft-repeated cliché of Israel being “the only 
democracy in the Middle East”, is being slightly adjusted to meet the 
expectations of a fledgling superpower, which is merely interested in 
technology, trade, and investments. Israeli leaders want China and its 
investors to think of Israel as the only stable economy in the Middle East.

As expected, Palestinian priorities are wholly different.

With the Palestinian struggle for freedom and human rights capturing 
international attention through the rise of theBoycott, Divestment and 
Sanctions 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/01/boycott-divestment-sanctions-bds-170110165203991.html> 
(BDS) movement, more and more countries are under pressure to articulate 
a clear stance on the Israeli Occupation and apartheid.

For China to enter the fray with an indecisive and self-serving strategy 
is not just morally objectionable, but strategically unsustainable as 
well. The Palestinian and Arab peoples are hardly interested in swapping 
American military dominance with Chinese economic hegemony that does 
little to change or, at least challenge, the prevailing status quo.

Sadly, while Beijing and Tel Aviv labor to strike the needed balance 
between foreign policies and economic interests, China finds itself 
under no particular obligation to side with a clear Arab position on 
Palestine, just because the latter does not exist. The political 
division of Arab countries, the wars in Syria and elsewhere have pushed 
Palestine down from being a top Arab priority into some strange bargain 
involving “regional peace” as part of Trump’s so-called “Deal of the 
Century”.

This painful reality has weakened Palestine’s position in China, which, 
at least for now, values its relationship with Israel at a higher level 
than its historical bond with Palestine and the Arab people.

/– Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine 
Chronicle. His forthcoming book is ‘The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story’ 
(Pluto Press, London). Baroud has a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the 
University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for 
Global and International Studies, University of California Santa 
Barbara. His website is //www.ramzybaroud.net/ 
<http://www.ramzybaroud.net/>/./


**
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