Chinese TV Features Israel, Jewish History
Av 21, 5770, 01 August 10 05:18
by Maayana Miskin
Chinese FM Yang Jiechi with PM Netanyahu(Israelnationalnews.com) China's CCTV has launched its first-ever series on Jewish history and Israel. The series, a documentary, is titled "Walk into Israel – The Land of Milk and Honey."
"Walk into Israel" was launched at an event in Beijing covered by the People's Daily Online.
Israeli ambassador Amos Nadai spoke at the event, as did Guy Kivetz, the Israeli embassy's Director of Communications. Both expressed hope that the TV show would “enhance understanding.”
"Through this amazing program, which explores and unveils the wonders of the state of Israel and the contributions of Jewish civilization to the world, we are now able to present the real and bountiful Israel to the Chinese people,” Kivetz enthused.
Nadai said the series “has the potential to enhance mutual understanding and traditional friendship between Chinese and Jewish nations, promote cooperation between the two peoples, and jointly build a better future for all.”
Ties between Israel and China were virtually non-existent prior to the 1980s due to China's support for the Muslim world and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The two nations developed military ties in the 1980s, and formally established diplomatic ties in the early 1990s.
Trade between the countries has since surpassed $4 billion per year.
Some senior Israeli leaders have ties to China. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was born to parents who survived the Holocaust after fleeing to China, and Commander of the Israel Navy Eli Marom is descended from a Chinese convert.
© Copyright IsraelNationalNews.com
Subscribe to the free Daily Israel Report - israelnn.com/subscribe
========
New Israeli Consulate in China To Boost Partnership, Prosperity
Tammuz 14, 5769, 06 July 09 10:18
by Malkah Fleisher
Guangzhou's Beijing Pedestrian RoadIsrael news photo: Cara Chow, Wikimedia Commons
(Israelnationalnews.com) Israel looks forward to stronger ties with China's prosperous southern manufacturing region, inaugurating a new Israeli consulate in Guangzhou, capital of the flourishing Guangdong province. Having begun operations in March, the new consulate is Israel's third in the country, with Shanghai and Hong Kong branches already serving Israelis living and traveling in Asia.
The Guangzhou consulate will serve the Guangdong, Hainan and Fujian provinces, as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.
Opportunities for cooperation are most prevalent in the areas of water recycling and agriculture, as well as clean energy and computer and mobile phone technologies, according to Consul General in Guangzhou Avraham Nir. Guangdong province, one of China's most prosperous regions, is increasingly focused on hi-tech and "green" practices, said Nir.
The Consul General told the China Daily newspaper that Israel was recently named the world's most efficient recycled water user by the United Nations. He also noted that many of the computer and mobile phone technologies in use today were invented in Israel, making a partnership between the Jewish State and the economic giant a natural one for both parties.
Even prior to the new partnership, trade between Israel and Guangdong province was $1.3 billion in 2007, a quarter of all trade between Israel and China.
Guangzhou, the third largest metropolis in China, is also home to a successful Chabad house, which frequently provides services to Jewish businessmen attracted by the large Canton business fair held annually in the city. According to Chabad emissary Rabbi Eliyahu Rozenberg, there are an estimated 200 local Jews residing in the area. While some non-Jews, often wives of Jewish men who came to the region, have expressed an interest in converting to Judaism, Chinese anti-proselytizing laws have prevented Chabad from performing conversions.
Guangzhou is currently the sister city of many international cities, including Los Angeles, Dubai, Durban, Bristol, Lyon, and Sydney.
Posts
