Israel Hopes China Ties Will Help Ease Mideast Arms Race

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy, speaking after the formal establishment Friday of Sino-Israeli diplomatic relations, expressed hope that the new ties may bring an easing of the Middle East arms race.

“We have discussed the arms race and know that it is in contrast to the peace process,” Levy told reporters after almost two hours of talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen. “The fact that we have diplomatic relations, the fact that we are listening to one another, I believe that this will somehow stem this flow of arms.”

Striking a similarly optimistic tone, Qian said that in the next round of Middle East peace talks, planned for Moscow next week, China “will try to make efforts to push forward the peace process.”

Qian noted that “China has good relations with the Arab countries” and suggested this may help Beijing play a useful role in the talks, saying, “I believe that the Chinese nation and the Jewish nation, two great nations that have made remarkable contributions to human civilization, will be able to make new contributions to world peace and development.”

Premier Li Peng, meeting later with Levy, also had words of praise for Israel and the Jewish people. But he also indicated that China has not abandoned its longtime support of Arab nations. “It is China’s hope that the two sides, the Israeli side in particular, will take a flexible attitude so as to enable the talks to make progress in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions,” Li said, according to the official New China News Agency, which paraphrased his remarks.

Li said China “deeply expresses its sympathy with the Jewish nation’s suffering in history,” the Chinese agency reported. “This nation is a diligent and wise nation, bringing out many well-known thinkers and scientists.”

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wu Jianmin said Thursday that China believed “the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people should be restored, the Arabs’ occupied territory should be returned and the sovereignty and security of all the Middle East countries, including Israel, should be guaranteed and respected.”

China has been an important arms supplier to Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and other Middle East countries. Israel itself has engaged in quiet military cooperation with China, including technology sales, as part of its effort to cultivate better ties with Beijing. Levy said Thursday that reports on such cooperation have been “exaggerated.”

The general atmosphere of Levy’s visit has been extremely upbeat. Levy said Thursday, while touring the Great Wall, that the Chinese have received him warmly and “with a lot of respect. Now I have great hopes, that we will manage to see all kinds of walls become merely antiquities and tourist sites, and that we will be able to see peace at last.”