The Ties Between China and Israel are Flourishing

Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer

Following the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the People’s Republic of China a year later, ties between the two countries were virtually non-existent. A Maoist China that stridently supported revolution in the Third World, and gave aid to the Palestinian guerrilla movements, wanted nothing to do with the Jewish state.

But as China emerged as a modern trading nation, that would change. Starting secretly during the 1980s, but with increasing openness after the establishment of official ties in 1992, arms sales at first defined Sino-Israeli relations. Israel became China’s second-largest weapons supplier.

In fact, during the 1990s, American officials accused Israel of illegally providing China with weapons such as the Patriot missile, Lavi jetfighter, and Phalcon airborne radar system.

The arms trade seems to have levelled off, though in 2012 Israel appointed Matan Vilnai, a former major general, as its ambassador to China. Today, though, China is more interested in acquiring Israeli technology. Cyber-security is just one cutting-edge field, along with drones, in which Israel excels and where China wants to improve.

China is also interested in many technologies where Israel is considered a world leader, such as water recycling, desalination, agriculture, and health and medicine.

Israel is bringing its agricultural technology to the vast fields of China. The Israeli firm AutoAgronom was bought out this year by Yuanda Enterprise Group, a Chinese conglomerate that is involved in construction, electronics, and environmental technology.

China is Israel’s third-largest trading partner globally, and its biggest trading partner in Asia. The two-way trade volume has increased from only a little more than $50 million in 1992 to more than $10 billion in 2013.

This past April, outgoing Israeli President Shimon Peres paid a three-day visit to China aimed at bolstering economic and diplomatic ties between the two countries, as well as reinforcing the mutual commitment to combat the spread of non-conventional weapons in the Middle East.

“China is both a regional and a global power and relations between us have strategic significance,” Peres said. “In terms of the diplomatic aspects there are issues of critical importance on the agenda. China is increasing its interest in the Middle East and we have a mutual interest to promote peace and stability, to tackle the scourge of terrorism and the proliferation of non-conventional weapons.”

Peres was referring to the threats China faces from terrorism and extremism among the Uighurs in Muslim Xinjiang.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made relations with China a priority. In May 2013, he led a large delegation to China, meeting with top political and business officials and agreeing with his counterparts to establish a task force to improve trade ties.

Gao Yanping, China’s Ambassador to Israel, wrote following Netanyahu’s visit, “With the interdependence between countries deepening in the globalized world, China and Israel have a shared destiny. The closer our cooperation is, the more benefits will accrue for both our peoples, and the more contributions we will be able to make to regional stability, world peace and global prosperity.”

In turn, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Israel last December. He told his hosts that the Chinese and Israeli economies “are highly complementary, and the mutually beneficial cooperation between us enjoys a very bright future.”

In May 2014, 400 Chinese business and government officials visited Israel for a week of conferences, summits and business deals. Tel Aviv University announced a partnership with Beijing’s Tsinghua University to invest $300 million to establish the XIN Research Center that will focus on researching early-stage and developed technologies in biotech, solar energy, water and the environment. The week-long visit also included the first-ever Israel-China Economic Summit.

In 2013 alone, Israel produced 1,000 new start-ups. Israel has tried to brand itself as a center of dynamic commercial innovation and economic development in China’s eyes, and it seems to be succeeding.