| http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/
Israel, China resume strategic partnership ��� Eighteen months after the cancellation of the Phalcon airborne early-warning system sale, China has resumed its strategic partnership with Israel. ��� China still wants the Phalcon system, blocked by U.S. pressure in July 2000 and formally cancelled by Israel last year. But Beijing is willing to buy civilian dual-use systems as compensation. This time, China has chosen to purchase communications satellites from Israel. ��� The choice is not accidental. The United States had blocked the sale of the Phalcon, saying that the system would provide a new technological capability to Beijing's air force. But neither the Bush administration nor Congress can make such a claim about communications satellites when U.S. companies such as Boeing and Loral have sold far more advanced satellite technology to Beijing. ��� Last week, the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries signed a $250 million deal to supply two Amos High-Powered communications satellites to China's Hong Kong Space Technologies. But Western diplomatic sources say this is just the tip of the iceberg. They said China has agreed in principle to buy an additional eight satellites from Israel. The project could total $1 billion. ��� The sales figure is also not accidental. China has requested $1 billion in compensation for the cancellation of the Phalcon project. The Amos deal and the silence from Washington could just be the arrangement that ensures that China will obtain its compensation and IAI, Israel's leading defense firm, will not be damaged by the Phalcon cancellation. |
