China wants to steal foreign technology
So it’s targeting Israel
And Israel seems to like it.
Welcome to China Uncensored. I’m Chris Chappell.
The Chinese Communist Party wants to dominate the world, and it needs
cutting-edge technology to get ahead of the US and its allies.
According to Chinese leader Xi Jinping , “Technological innovation has become
the main battlefield of the international strategic game.”
Technological innovation? Then that means the winner of this battlefield is whoever came up with
the baby mop. Making your lazy baby clean up after itself is the greatest innovation of all time.
But the battlefield Xi Jinping is talking about is both figurative and literal.
“China is investing heavily in its pursuit and integration of emerging dual-use technologies”—
which have both civilian and military use—“hoping they will help the People’s
Liberation Army...to surpass conventional military capabilities to achieve battlefield dominance.”
Even before Xi Jinping came to power,
the Chinese Communist Party has always been eyeing foreign technology.
It’s like window shopping, but instead of *buying* what you see,
you just *steal* the designs and make your own knockoffs.
The US is waking up to China’s technological ambitions. It’s
moving to keep advanced technology out of China.
But the US needs to do more than just keep an eye on American companies.
It needs to keep an eye on Israel, too.
That’s because despite Israel’s small size, it’s one of the world’s leading hubs of technological
advancement and innovation. Israel prides itself in being one of the top countries for start-ups.
Israel spends 5 percent of its GDP in research and development—the highest percent of any country.
Which is great for Israel, and for allies like the US who benefit from Israel’s innovation.
But it’s also great for China, who loves window shopping in Israel.
China’s attention to Israel’s technology goes back decades,
even before China and Israel established formal diplomatic ties in 1992.
Israel has produced a lot of sophisticated technology.
For example, the Pegasus spyware that can infiltrate any smartphone.
Not hard to imagine why China would be so interested.
“Israel-China relations began in 1979 when businessman Saul Eisenberg helped arrange a
secret meeting between the two sides that resulted in the first of many deals to transfer defense
technology from Israel to China.” Over the next two decades,
Israel transferred billions of dollars of military technology to China, all in secret.
“These transactions allegedly included technology to upgrade Chinese tanks,
night vision systems, electronic warfare systems, Python-3 air-to-air missiles,
fighter aircraft technology, and unmanned aerial vehicle… technology.”
And it’s not hard to figure out what China did with all that.
This would be like giving a gorilla nunchucks and saying,
“Don’t worry. They’re only going to use those nunchucks for self-defense.”
China recognizes the value that Israel brings. According to a 2006 article
in the Journal of Xidian University, part of China's defense and public security apparatus,
“Israel’s national defense industry has given our country many useful revelations
in developing our defense industry… We should actively cooperate internationally,
taking the road of absorbing, retrofitting and developing.”
Of course, for China, “absorbing,
retrofitting and developing” often means stealing and making knockoffs.
Wow. It’s almost like the power-hungry tyrants you conducted secret,
backdoor business deals with aren’t always on the up-and-up.
Even Daredevil could have seen that coming.
China’s military hackers targeted and stole
sensitive information about Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense technology
In addition to the dome, the hackers also hacked into three contractors
that built the dome and stole intellectual property pertaining to Arrow III missiles,
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, ballistic rockets, and other technical documents.
But despite the risks, Israel wants to keep economic ties with China.
This can have serious political and security repercussions. I’ll explain after the break.
Welcome back.
China has its eyes on Israel’s tech. And despite the US’s concerns, Israel
has been eager to increase trade and cooperation.
Because, sure, the Chinese regime stole their designs and
used their weapons tech in the past to commit human rights violations…
But there’s just something Israel likes about working with China.
During a 2017 visit to China, then-Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “We
are your perfect junior partner for that effort… I believe this is a marriage made in heaven.”
Really? A marriage made in heaven? I’m pretty sure marrying an authoritarian
government that genocides minorities is the last thing a Jewish leader should want.
That sounds more like a marriage made on some horrible reality TV show.
As Chinese state-run media put it, China-Israel ties bloomed spectacularly.
Now, China is Israel’s third largest trading partner behind the EU and the US.
But through economic trade, investments,
and programs, China has been infiltrating Israel’s tech sector in a lot of ways.
The most straightforward way is by acquiring Israeli tech companies
And paying top dollar for Israeli engineers
If buying Israeli companies isn’t an option, China entices them with the Chinese market.
Everyone loves the Chinese market. Even Disney bends over backwards to stay there.
What can I say?
There’s just something they like about working with China.
China also invests a lot of money in Israel, and it’s no surprise where that money goes. In the
past 20 years, 97 percent of known Chinese investments in Israel deal with technology,
including IT, communications, clean and agricultural tech and robotics.
And the other 3% probably went to
Shakshuka. But only because the CCP heard someone say that dish is the bomb.
Business investment and stealing aren’t the only ways China gets
Israel’s tech. It’s also cooperating with Israel on academics and research.
This is a big concern, because “Many of the students and scientists… also serve
as reservists in some of the Israeli Defense Forces’ elite technical units.”
According to Jeff Stoff, a former US government official, “Israeli scientists…
have engaged in joint research with at least five military research institutions in China.”
The projects range from new types of aircraft engines to improved surveillance capabilities.
Not something you’d want to give the Chinese military.
I wouldn’t even want them getting their hands on a baby mop.
Now as you would expect from the Chinese Communist Party,
they keep these programs under wraps as much as possible.
For example, many Chinese purchases of Israeli companies are kept hidden from the public. Even
Huawei’s deals were kept secret until Israeli journalists uncovered them.
I haven’t seen anyone try that hard to keep a purchase secret since the last time I bought
an Insane Clown Posse album.
What? I was young and naive. I’m sure you’ve all done things you regret... when you were 35.
According to one Israeli security company, “The U.S. has warned of Chinese ‘straw
companies’ attempting to partner with Israeli companies ‘to create corporations that can
look very legitimate but, in fact, are aimed at moving Israel defense technologies to China.’”
For example, in 2013, the Bank of China was accused of laundering Iranian money
for terrorist activity by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Thanks to the Chinese government’s pressure, Israel’s then-prime minister
Netanyahu backed off from participating in a federal court trial in New York.
Never thought I’d see Israel back off from pressing charges against Iranian supporters.
Told you that Chinese market is really enticing.
Israel’s infrastructure is also at risk. By allowing
Chinese state-owned companies to build facilities in its ports,
Israel leaves itself vulnerable to intelligence-gathering opportunities.
According to one security expert, “It is possible to plant surveillance systems
in heavy machinery used in the port and these can transmit what they see or hear.”
Not even the ports’ cranes are safe.
Literally and figuratively, since
the infrastructure is made in China.
Israel is aware of these issues. “Leading security experts in Israel have voiced
concerns over deepening Chinese involvement in Israel’s infrastructure and technology sector.”
In response to these concerns, the US has pushed Israel’s National Security Council
to establish an advisory panel on foreign investments in 2019.
Don’t know why they need a whole panel, though. The only advising they need is, “Stop doing
business with a regime that puts minorities in concentration camps, and also supports Iran!”
The Biden administration has launched high-level tech talks with Israel with an eye on China.
In response to this, China said, “Launched?... high-level?... We gotta steal that!”
Previously, only India, Japan, and South Korea had this kind of dialogue with the US. As part of the
dialogue, the US and Israel agreed to establish a partnership on critical and emerging technologies
and to “manage risks…in research security, export controls, and investment screening.”
Time will tell how Israel will act concerning Chinese influence.
Now some say the US is exaggerating how much China is a threat.
Some say the same about me, too.
That was actually 90% of the YouTube comments the first 5 years of this channel.
Some argue there’s too much to lose if Israel distances itself from China.
According to a director of a Israel-China program, Israel doesn’t need to ditch China for America.
After all, the US has a lot of economic ties with China. So why can’t Israel?
Sure, it seems hypocritical of the US to tell countries to cut ties with China,
especially when the US continues to approve nearly all tech exports there.
But just because the US can’t wean itself off Chinese investment right now,
doesn’t mean it’s not good advice for other countries.
And if countries don’t stop letting China buy, copy, and steal their technology,
it’s going to come back to bite us. We can’t just sweep all this under the rug.
Even with a baby mop.
And now it’s time for me to answer a question from a member of the China Uncensored 50 Cent
Army. Those are the folks who support us on Patreon or Locals. Today’s question comes from
LordWhiteSk1n on Patreon:
“How does the current state of China compare to when you started the show?”
Good question. When I started China Uncensored in 2012, Xi Jinping was only weeks away from
officially becoming the new General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. People were hoping
he’d be a reformer. China wasn’t occupying the South China Sea yet. It hadn’t completely
taken over Hong Kong yet. The concentration camps in Xinjiang hadn’t been built yet.
China was the hot place for Western companies to do business!
That’s why people thought I was crazy talking about how the Chinese Comunist Party was a threat.
If only they’d listened.
Thanks for your question and your support.
And thank you to everyone else watching. If you want to support china Uncensored,
head over to Patreon.com/ChinaUncensored
Link is below.
Once again I’m Chris Chappell. See you next time.