Israel-Gaza war: China’s stance belies years of cooperation, including arms deals, with Israel
- China and Israel once enjoyed cosy bilateral ties, including Israel’s sale of advanced weapons to Beijing
- As the trade war escalated, Washington increased pressure on Israel to limit or ban cooperation with China in research and technology
But it was not always the case.
Before the US-China rivalry significantly reshaped the superpowers’ relationship with each other and their allies, China and Israel enjoyed cosy ties and military links so close that Washington found it necessary to intervene.
That relationship has faded in recent decades – Israel’s dependence on the United States and the structural contradictions in China-US relations gradually chipped away at the close strategic ties between China and Israel.
With China-US competition set to stay, and possibly even further intensify in the foreseeable future, experts say that more frictions between China and Israel are inevitable.
And the ongoing Israel-Gaza war brings extra complexity to Israel’s ties with Beijing. Israel’s foreign ministry expressed “deep disappointment” over China’s lack of condemnation of Hamas, and its envoy to the UN said he was “shocked to the core” while criticising the veto by China and Russia of the American proposal at the UN Security Council.
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Humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza as food supplies run out after total Israeli blockade