Donald Trump’s world view is one of US superiority, and maintaining that superiority. But clearly, the customers are in Asia. Japan’s Abe and Israel’s Netanyahu have signaled more cooperation with China as both realize that Asia is where it’s at economically. For Abe, Trump is perplexingly pushing Japan into China’s camp:
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s use of language became fodder for the commentary. Ahead of his Southeast Asia and Oceania tour to attend the APEC summit and other meetings, Abe stopped using the term “Indo-Pacific strategy,” replacing the word “strategy” with “vision.”
Explaining why Abe changed the wording, the commentary cited serious trade friction between Japan and the U.S. It explained that Japan downgraded the strategy to a “vision” because Trump rejected a request to reconsider his tariffs on Japanese products.
For Netanyahu, China’s tourism industry is opening up to Israel. While Donald Trump could care less about Chinese tourism to the USA, Israel takes Chinese tourism seriously. The two countries share one thing in common, a long history.
The Council on Foreign Relations has taken note of this thawing relationship, and would not be writing about it if it was not concerned. Obviously, with China possessing 10 cities with larger populations than all of Israel, what is the key for China to care? Technology, according to the CFR, is the key:
While visiting Beijing in 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told an Israeli interviewer that China accounts for one-third of the investment in Israeli high technology. Chinese investment in Israel is also focused on Israeli infrastructure projects.
Clearly, Israel wants China to offset BDS and voting tendencies at the United Nations. In exchange for technology, Israel wants a political as well as an economic advantage for engaging China. China supports the Palestinian cause, but “respects Israel”.
