There is a remarkable amount of interest in China about Israel and Jews, as I discovered during a trip to China sponsored by the Sino-Israel Global Network and Academic Leadership (SIGNAL) and the Bar-Ilan University Asia project. What's really interesting is how important this is and why it is so.
The most obvious answer is that the Chinese perceive that Israel in particular and the Jewish people in general have been success stories. Ten or 20 years ago this would have been less salient. But now, sad to say, it stands out more because the United States and Europe, perhaps only temporarily, are not working very well.
OF COURSE, on a strategic level, Israel and China have some differing interests, but these are less important than they may appear to be.
China wants to have commerce with everyone, including Iran, and is protecting Syria in the international framework. Yet China has significantly reduced energy imports from Iran in order to show support for the international efforts against Iran's nuclear drive and clear signals have been sent to Tehran. Clearly, Chinese interests don't benefit from Tehran having a nuclear arsenal and being a destabilizing force in the region. As for Syria, Israel's own position on whether the current regime should be overthrown has not been unambiguous.
Having said this, Israel and China have many parallel interests, among them the desire for stability in the Middle East and the hope that revolutionary Islamism doesn't spread. And China's policy of dealing with all other countries has another side, since it will not let its relationships with Israel be interfered with by any possible Arab or Iranian demands.
Another factor which should not be underestimated is the lack of prejudice toward Jews and prejudgment against Israel that has become such a huge obstacle in Israel's dealings with the West.
Most important of all is the emphasis on economic and social development, the priority on raising living standards and achieving national success rather than such typically regrettable goals as expanding territory, getting revenge for past grievances, and preferring pragmatic solutions to imposing ideological rigidity on problems.
There is a huge amount of cooperation, far more than many people realize, on joint projects. While hi-tech is the most obvious area of such activity, there are many others. Energy issues are equally paramount. China shares with Israel a great interest in finding alternative energy sources, not so much due to environmental considerations but to financial and security ones. Some impressive ideas and pilot programs are underway that seem more imaginative and likely to succeed than what I've seen in the American debate.
Several Israel and Jewish programs have opened in various Chinese universities; students are studying Hebrew and other relevant topics; Chinese bookstores contain multiple volumes about Jewish and Israeli achievements without - unlike some other Asian countries - exhibiting anti-Semitism. Obviously, those interested in these things are only a tiny fraction of the world's most populous country. But this sector has reached a size significant enough to sustain itself and to influence the broader society.
