Posted on 06/22/2005 5:19:10 AM PDT by thierrya
Jun. 22, 2005 0:50 | Updated Jun. 22, 2005 3:01
China, Israel discuss expanding defense ties
By NINA GILBERT
Expansion of defense ties with Israel was on the agenda during talks with his Israeli counterparts this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Tuesday.
Li, who spoke at the start of a meeting with the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, did not go into detail about the current dispute between Israel and the US over the Israel upgrade of Chinese Harpy drones.
He said that during his visit he had held talks on expanding ties in the fields of "trade, army, culture, education and tourism."
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom apologized to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this week over the deal, and expressed hope that the crisis would be quickly resolved.
Defense Minister Director-General Amos Yaron is expected to be sacked as part of the deal to resolve the crisis with the US.
Li was asked by Labor MK Danny Yatom about US-Chinese relations and how the ties were affecting Israel's ability to sell arms to China. Li responded that ties between the US and China were improving, and that the main problem in the ties was Taiwan. He said China also opposed the sale of US arms to Taiwan that could pose a threat to it, according to Yatom, who heads the Israel-China parliamentary friendship association.
Li also told Israel to prepare for an imminent influx of Chinese tourists as an outgrowth of deepening ties.
"I can let you know with some certainty that thousands of Chinese tourists will visit Jerusalem and other parts of the country. You are such an attraction. I have already advised enterprises of this country to prepare more hotel rooms for the upcoming Chinese tourism," he said.
Li also told the MKs that he was moved by his visit to Yad Vashem, saying it made him feel a bond between the Jewish people and the Chinese. He said 20 million Chinese were "slaughtered by the Japanese aggressors" during the same period of World War II.
"We should never forget history, instead we should turn it into united efforts to maintain world peace," he said.
Committee chairman Yuval Steinitz said the relations with China were "extremely" important for Israel, referring to China as the "giant" and Israel as the "dwarf."
Check is in the mail; now answer the question.
"now answer the question."
Which question ?
Of course they are different.
"And if so how and why."
Yes. Now answer my question.
Greg: “You are comparing Polish People's Republic and SA ?”
From an article by US Saudi expert John R. Bradley who just wrote a new book on Saudi Arabia:
“What I found when I traveled to these regions is that the Saudi people who inhabit them are still very aware of their hidden history, despite all the state-sponsored propaganda; they have for the most part not embraced Wahhabism, and indeed see their country as an empire whose various regions were conquered and are still ruled over by this alien royal family, who use the Wahhabi ideology to oppress them. The overwhelming impression I was left with was that the people are just waiting for the moment to rid themselves of that imperial legacy, just as those who lived under the oppressive Communist ideology of the Soviet Union were. That, I suppose, is one of the main messages of my book, although I try to tell the stories as much as possible through the voices of the ordinary Saudi people.“
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1438264/posts
He also says taking over the SA oil fields and securing them would be fairly simple. And the US has plans to do so and he believes they will. He says US is furious because the official Saudis are sending Jihadists to fight in Iraq. He says 40% of them are Saudis.
This is a very interesting article. I plan on reading the book.
Thanks for the link. Excellent information.
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