by Tovah Lazaroff
Remaining consistent with the administration's message, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will warn of China's investments in Israel.
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Chinese staffers adjust US and Chinese flags before
the opening session of Sino-US trade negotiations in Beijing in
February 2019.
(photo credit: REUTERS/MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/POOL)
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to warn Israel against continued Chinese investments in the country's infrastructure and hi-tech industry when he meets with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Washington on Wednesday.
"We
will be candid with our Israeli friends over risks to our shared
national security interests that come with close cooperation with
China," a senior State Department official told reporters during a
briefing ahead of the meeting.
Blinken is also expected to meet with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday.
The US has been concerned about the UAE's use of Chinese Huawei Technologies
in its communication system in light of its pending sale of advanced
F-35 fighter jets to the Emirates, but when speaking of China it focused
only on its concern with Israel.
The
highlight of the day is expected to be a trilateral meeting Blinken
will host with the two foreign ministers that is designed to highlight
the success of the Abraham Accords, brokered by the former
administration.
The
accords allowed for Israel to normalize ties with the UAE, Bahrain,
Morocco and Sudan last year, of which ties with the Emirates are the
most advanced.
At
the trilateral, Israel and the UAE are expected to announce two new
working groups, one on religious coexistence and another that would
focus on water and energy.
But
the range of the topics that will be brought up in all meetings are
fairly wide and include China, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Gaza and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Lapid, in his public comments in Washington on Tuesday, will focus
on the strong US-Israel bilateral ties and the special relationship
Israel has with America and the Biden administration.
Though US officials echoed those same sentiments at the briefing, they also discussed topics of discord in the relationship.
Biden
administration officials had spoken about China with National Security
Advisor Eyal Hulata when he was in Washington earlier this month.
But State Department senior officials remained vague on Tuesday with respect to their specific concerns on China.
"The
US views China as a competitor that challenges the existing
international rules-based order; our relationship with China will be
competitive when it should be," the official stated.
ON
IRAN, a senior State Department official said that Washington's main
objective at this time is the revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive
Plan of Action, known as the Iran deal, which Israel has traditionally
opposed.
Both the
US and Israel are joined in their opposition to a nuclear Iran but have
differed about how best to achieve that objective.
Lapid said on Tuesday that Iran was one of the major focal points of his Washington trip.
On
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the senior State Department officials
said that at Wednesday's meetings, Blinken will "reaffirm our belief"
in the benefits of a two-state solution. He will also express his
appreciation for "Minister Lapid's recent, strong statement condemning
settler violence in the West Bank."
The
Israeli government is split on how best to approach the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett
opposing a two-state resolution to the conflict while Lapid has
supported it.
But
Lapid's visions of the borders of those two states differ from those
envisioned by the Biden administration, which has not advanced a peace
process. The senior State Department officials did not mention any
movement on that front, except for stating that "we seek to advance it
when we can, as best as we can."
An
official said that the accords are not a substitute for the two-state
solutions and suggested that they could be used to push for progress
toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We hope that normalization can be leveraged to advance progress on the Israeli-Palestinian track," the official said.
An
official also spoke of the Biden administration's commitment to
maintaining Israel's qualitative edge and its support for supplemental
funding for the defensive Iron Dome system it provides Israel to protect
Israeli citizens against Hamas rockets.
The
officials repeated their opposition to Israeli settlement activity and
the Palestinian Authority's monthly stipends to terrorists and their
families.
Separately,
during Lapid's trip, Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz will
meet with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman.
Tovah Lazaroff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/us-to-warn-israel-china-ties-are-a-joint-national-security-risk-681833
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