BEIJING – I am in China’s capital city, clogged with cars, trucks, smoky air and vast numbers of people, to speak at the China Israel Technology Innovation & Investment Summit, January 4-6, a conference organized by the Israeli Economy Ministry.
The two-day conference, opened by National Infrastructure and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and Ambassador to China Matan Vilnai, has just ended. I am looking out my hotel window at soaring skyscrapers, new ones sprouting almost daily, and reflecting on the burgeoning mouse-and-elephant love affair between China and Israel.
The goal of the conference was unabashedly to sell Israel – its creativity, technology and start-up mind-set – to China.
It is widely believed that Israel urgently needs a big new geopolitical friend, as the support from its main ally, the United States, and its president, has waned.
The conference attracted a large number of Chinese managers, entrepreneurs and academics, all of them curious about the Jewish people and Israel and the “secret sauce” of their perceived intelligence, creativity and skill in business I spent a lot of time at the booth of my Chinese publisher Hangzhu, spoke with several hundred Chinese, signed copies of my book “The Imagination Elevator” ( coauthored with Arie Ruttenberg) and talked about how our two countries can work together.
China has huge markets, vast sums of money and increasing global clout. Its rapid economic growth has horribly polluted its air, water and land – and Israel is a world leader in so-called clean-tech technologies that can help clean up China.
At the conference, several dozen Israeli hi-tech companies displayed their wares in punchy six-minute presentations. Prominent among them were some of the water companies, such as WaterGen, which uses Israeli technology first developed for the IDF to generate pure water out of the air, and Aquanos, which purifies waste water by technology far cheaper and better than the costly century-old, energy-hungry activated sludge method.
But China is also a rival of the US, with friction between the two powers growing, especially in the South China Sea. The US has long banned Israel from selling any type of defense technology to China and, in some cases, insists that Israeli defense industry officials not set foot in China, even as tourists − though lately, one large Israeli defense contractor has managed to do some strong civilian business in China.
The Pentagon defines China as America’s main strategic threat. Hence, Israel’s cuddling with China, without losing US support and aid, is very tricky. Every small embattled country needs all the friends it can muster – especially Israel.
How then can Israel sell itself to China? Why would China risk angering Muslim nations, and perhaps its own sizable Muslim population, which will number 30 million by 2030, by befriending Israel? What can Israel offer China? To seek some answers, I interviewed Einar Tangen, an American of mixed Korean and Norwegian descent, who has lived and worked in China for a decade.
Tangen, a lawyer and graduate of Marquette University, runs a leading architectural and interior design company in Beijing and is a respected radio and TV commentator there.
The Jerusalem Report: Einar, how do you explain China’s fascination with the Jewish people and with Israel? Tangen: “The Jewish people have a long history of involvement with China. The Jews of Harbin, a province in Northern China, most of whom came from Russia, go back many years. Jews were prominent in trading along China’s Silk Road. But, more importantly, in recent times, the Chinese perceive that Israel is a very strong country, good at defending itself, and the Chinese greatly respect such strength. The word the Chinese use for it is li hai, meaning top level, strong, ‘you can get things done.’ They respect Israel for this.”
อิสราเอลกำลังหาร่างเพื่อสิงสู่ใหม่หรือ เมกาเติบโตจนเข้าใกล้วัยชราแล้วส่วนจีนเพิ่งเข้าวัยรุ่นเองยังโตได้อีกเยอะ
The two-day conference, opened by National Infrastructure and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz and Ambassador to China Matan Vilnai, has just ended. I am looking out my hotel window at soaring skyscrapers, new ones sprouting almost daily, and reflecting on the burgeoning mouse-and-elephant love affair between China and Israel.
The goal of the conference was unabashedly to sell Israel – its creativity, technology and start-up mind-set – to China.
It is widely believed that Israel urgently needs a big new geopolitical friend, as the support from its main ally, the United States, and its president, has waned.
The conference attracted a large number of Chinese managers, entrepreneurs and academics, all of them curious about the Jewish people and Israel and the “secret sauce” of their perceived intelligence, creativity and skill in business I spent a lot of time at the booth of my Chinese publisher Hangzhu, spoke with several hundred Chinese, signed copies of my book “The Imagination Elevator” ( coauthored with Arie Ruttenberg) and talked about how our two countries can work together.
China has huge markets, vast sums of money and increasing global clout. Its rapid economic growth has horribly polluted its air, water and land – and Israel is a world leader in so-called clean-tech technologies that can help clean up China.
At the conference, several dozen Israeli hi-tech companies displayed their wares in punchy six-minute presentations. Prominent among them were some of the water companies, such as WaterGen, which uses Israeli technology first developed for the IDF to generate pure water out of the air, and Aquanos, which purifies waste water by technology far cheaper and better than the costly century-old, energy-hungry activated sludge method.
But China is also a rival of the US, with friction between the two powers growing, especially in the South China Sea. The US has long banned Israel from selling any type of defense technology to China and, in some cases, insists that Israeli defense industry officials not set foot in China, even as tourists − though lately, one large Israeli defense contractor has managed to do some strong civilian business in China.
The Pentagon defines China as America’s main strategic threat. Hence, Israel’s cuddling with China, without losing US support and aid, is very tricky. Every small embattled country needs all the friends it can muster – especially Israel.
How then can Israel sell itself to China? Why would China risk angering Muslim nations, and perhaps its own sizable Muslim population, which will number 30 million by 2030, by befriending Israel? What can Israel offer China? To seek some answers, I interviewed Einar Tangen, an American of mixed Korean and Norwegian descent, who has lived and worked in China for a decade.
Tangen, a lawyer and graduate of Marquette University, runs a leading architectural and interior design company in Beijing and is a respected radio and TV commentator there.
The Jerusalem Report: Einar, how do you explain China’s fascination with the Jewish people and with Israel? Tangen: “The Jewish people have a long history of involvement with China. The Jews of Harbin, a province in Northern China, most of whom came from Russia, go back many years. Jews were prominent in trading along China’s Silk Road. But, more importantly, in recent times, the Chinese perceive that Israel is a very strong country, good at defending itself, and the Chinese greatly respect such strength. The word the Chinese use for it is li hai, meaning top level, strong, ‘you can get things done.’ They respect Israel for this.”