The year of 2022 is a milestone in China's development. Marked by the successful convening of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China embarked on a new journey of development. The year of 2022 is also an important year for China and Israel, as it marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties. Looking into the future, China is setting out on a new journey of development and the China-Israel relationship is embracing new opportunities.

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In a phone call in November 2021, President Xi Jinping and President Herzog reached important consensus on and charted a course for the development of bilateral ties. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of China-Israel relations, the two Presidents exchanged congratulatory messages and agreed to take this opportunity to deepen bilateral ties. Over the past three decades, with the personal commitment by the leadership and the concerted efforts by people in both countries, China-Israel relations have kept a sound and steady momentum with fruitful cooperation outcomes across the board.

The past 30 years witnessed ever-increasing political mutual trust. Leaders of the two countries have maintained close interaction, and friendly exchanges have been carried out at all levels. We established the China-Israel Intergovernmental Mechanism of Economic and Technological Cooperation and the China-Israel Joint Committee on Innovation Cooperation (JCIC). In 2017, we launched the China-Israel Innovative Comprehensive Partnership, marking a new historical point of bilateral ties. This year, China and Israel successfully convened the fifth meeting of JCIC and held a series of activities to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties, injecting new vitality into our bilateral relations.

The past 30 years witnessed vigorous development of mutually beneficial cooperation. The bilateral trade volume has risen from only $50 million when we first established diplomatic relations, to $22.8 billion in 2021, and then to $23.57 billion in the first 11 months of 2022, registering a 15.7% year-on-year growth. Israel's exports to China and China's exports to Israel both kept increasing. China became Israel's largest trading partner in Asia and the second largest in the world, and also the largest source for Israel's goods imports. The two sides are accelerating negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement. Once the negotiations are concluded and the agreement is signed, it will add another strong impetus to China-Israeli cooperation. Chinese companies are actively participating in Israel's infrastructure construction and contributing to Israel's economic and social development. The two sides have worked together to build landmark cooperation projects such as the China-Israel Changzhou Innovation Park and the China-Israel Shanghai Innovation Park. Innovation cooperation has become a highlight and a driving force for bilateral relations.

The past 30 years witnessed deepening people-to-people exchanges. While only a few thousand trips were made between the two countries when the diplomatic relationship was established, in 2019, 170,000 visits were made by Chinese travelers to Israel and around 100,000 by Israelis to China. Direct flights were opened between the Israeli city of Tel Aviv and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hong Kong, and the flights are being resumed as the pandemic situation is easing off. With close sub-national exchanges and cooperation, China and Israel now have a total of 28 pairs of sister cities.

The Chinese and Jewish people, both having a time-honored history and splendid culture, share a long-standing friendship. The cooperation outcomes we achieved in the past three decades have fully proved that with dovetailed visions and complementary strengths, cooperation between China and Israel has a win-win nature and delivers benefits to both countries and peoples. It has become a broad consensus for Chinese and Israeli people in all sectors to advance the innovative comprehensive partnership.

The 20th CPC National Congress pointed out the mission and pathway to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through a Chinese path to modernization, and drew a blueprint for China's future development. Our goal is to basically realize socialist modernization by the year of 2035, and to build China into a great, modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful by the middle of this century. The Chinese path to modernization is the modernization of a huge population, of common prosperity for all, of both material and cultural-ethical advancement, of harmonious co-existence between humanity and nature, and of peaceful development. As the 20th CPC National Congress stressed, China is committed to the basic policy of opening up. China will continue upholding a win-win opening up strategy and advancing high-level opening up. As China embarks on a new journey of development, greater opportunities will be provided to Israel and all countries in the world, and broader prospects will be opened up for China-Israel relations going forward.

The age of 30 bears special significance in both Chinese and Jewish culture. The Chinese sage Confucius once observed, "One should be able to establish himself at the age of thirty." The Jewish classic Talmud also regards 30 as the most energetic period in life. For China and Israel, the 30th anniversary is both an important historical juncture and a new starting point. Embracing new opportunities, the China-Israel relationship will build on the 30-year achievements and open a new chapter of greater splendor.

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Recently, China made clear its firm opposition to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to China's Taiwan region and took corresponding countermeasures. Having been asked by Israeli friends on multiple occasions, I hereby elaborate on three key facts about the Taiwan question. 

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First, the one-China principle is the consensus of the international community and a basic norm governing international relations. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. This statement has a sound basis both in history and jurisprudence. The Chinese people's early development of Taiwan was noted in ancient Chinese history records written over 1,700 years ago. In the 12th century, China established administrative institutions in Taiwan. In 1885, Taiwan was declared a province by the Qing dynasty. In 1895, Japan forced the Qing government to cede Taiwan after its war of aggression against China. Close to the end of the Second World War, the Cairo Declaration released in 1943 clearly stipulated that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, including Taiwan and Penghu Islands, should be restored to China, and the Potsdam Proclamation of 1945 reiterated the term. In 1971, the UNGA Resolution 2758 emphasized the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the entirety of China. It was clearly stated in the UN official legal opinions that "the United Nations considers 'Taiwan' as a province of China with no separate status", and the "'authorities' in 'Taipei' are not considered to... enjoy any form of government status". The one-China principle is the prerequisite and political basis for China to develop relations with all other countries. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, a total of 181 countries have established diplomatic ties with China on the basis of this principle. Although Taiwan and the mainland have not yet been reunified, the sovereignty and territory of China have never been divided, and Taiwan's status as part of China's territory has never changed. The Taiwan question is purely a matter of China's internal affairs and allows no external interference.

Second, it is not China that is responsible for changing the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan has never been a country. There is only one China in the world. Both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. This has been the status quo of Taiwan since ancient times. The China-US Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations in 1979 stressed that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal Government of China and that Taiwan is part of China. The status quo across the Taiwan Strait, having been established for decades, is indeed broken, not by China, but by the US and the separatist forces in Taiwan. In 2000, the US put its so-called "Taiwan Relations Act" before the three China-US joint communiqués. A couple of years ago, the US inserted the so-called "Six Assurances to Taiwan", something it had long kept secret, into the formulation of its one-China policy. Since the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) came to power in Taiwan, it has continuously sought "incremental independence", pushed forward "de-sinicization", and attempted to create the false impression of "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" whenever it had the chance. These moves blatantly challenged and hollowed out the one-China principle, and it is natural that China responds. Our position is justified, reasonable, and lawful. Our measures are firm, strong and proportionate. Our military exercises – open, transparent and professional – are consistent with domestic and international laws, as well as international customary practices. They are aimed at sending warnings to the perpetrator and punishing the "Taiwan independence" forces. This is also our practice to uphold the international law and the basic norms governing international relations, particularly non-interference in other countries' internal affairs, which is the most important international norm enshrined in the UN Charter.

Third, the Taiwan question is not the issue of Ukraine, nor shall the two be compared. The Taiwan question and the Ukraine issue are different in nature and are not comparable at all. Most fundamentally, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and the Taiwan question entirely falls within China's internal affairs. Those who underscore their respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity should implement this principle on the Taiwan question. Some countries, while urging respect for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, have kept trampling on China's red line and undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan question. This is a blatant act of double standards. 

China appreciates Israel's commitment to the one-China policy, and hopes that by knowing more facts, our Israeli friends will take a just stance to uphold the one-China principle instead of being misled by fallacies. Let's join hands in promoting the sound and steady development of the China-Israel relations. 

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