U.S. Pressure Works: China loses bid to run Israel’s biggest desalination plant
Two weeks after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exited lockdown in the height of the coronavirus pandemic, for a quick visit to Jerusalem, to voice his concerns to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about China’s potential involvement in Israel’s main desalination plant, China lost its advantage.
Shorek 2 plant, in Palmachim, is the biggest in the world of its kind, set to be run by Hutchison, a Chinese company. Israel was about to announce today that Hutchison won the tender to run the plant. This morning it was revealed that an Israeli company won the tender.
The plant is expected to produce over 200 million cubic meters of water per day and increases Israel’s desalination capacity by promptly 35%.
during Pompeo’s visit to Israel, a U.S. official hinted that Israel’s continued cooperation with China might be “dangerous” in light of the current coronavirus outbreak and could undermine the relations with its “strategic partners”.
President Donald Trump put China target to aggressive verbal attacks on China, accusing its government of trying to take over the world’s infrastructure by covering up the severity of the COVID-19 disease, which initially broke out in Wuhan in December of 2019.
During Pompeo’s visit to Israel, a U.S. official hinted that Israel’s continued cooperation with China might be “dangerous” and could undermine the relations with its “strategic partners.”
“In particular there’s the issue of strategic investment, that there is no such thing as a privately owned, independent company in China, right. If you use Huawei, if you use any type of company that has access to your DNA, that DNA becomes the property and that information becomes property of the Chinese Communist Party,” the official said, according to Ynet News.
Read more about: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Pandemics
