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Israeli tech firms startled by post-war Chinese paperwork load

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
25 Dec 2023 15:45
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Israeli officials and importers are publicly expressing dissent, as Chinese entities strictly enforce regulations.

The Chinese and Israeli flags are seen in the picture taken at the Great People's Hall during a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Beijing, China, on May 9, 2013. (AP)

Israeli high-tech factories have been having difficulties importing components from China since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7, Israeli news website Ynet reported on Sunday.

The website said Israeli electronics and high-tech factories in occupied Palestine have had trouble importing Chinese-made dual-purpose equipment, due to forms and paperwork.

Dual-purpose equipment includes any product that can be used for both civilian or military use, a term Israeli authorities are extremely familiar with. In fact, Israeli authorities have included thousands of products in their sanctioned dual-purpose products, which are not allowed to enter the Gaza Strip, such as concrete.

Ironically, Israeli importers are complaining about the fact that they have to fill out mandatory forms when purchasing Chinese products. Inaccurately filled paperwork has caused delays in shipments, according to Ynet.

This has led Israeli importers to raise official complaints to the Israeli Foreign Ministry and Economy Ministry.

Interestingly, no new forms or paperwork have been introduced by Chinese authorities or companies, however, concerned bodies are simply enforcing regulations that were previously ignored.

"In recent weeks, companies in the hi-tech sector have complained about delays in shipments from China of dual-use components. In all the checks we conducted with official bodies, it appears that there is no change in regulations, but rather enforcement that was not practiced in the past. Such technical requests create bureaucratic hurdles," a government official told Ynet.

Israelis are concerned with the enforcement of regulations, saying that it reflects the supposed pro-Palestinian stance that Chinese authorities have taken.

"It is clear to us that there is a direct link to the war," the unnamed official told Ynet.

Some Israeli businesspeople have gone to the extent of claiming that Beijing has imposed sanctions on "Israel" for enforcing regulations.

"The Chinese are imposing a kind of sanction on us. They don't officially declare it, but they are delaying shipments to Israel," an industrialist said.

"This has never happened to us before. We are talking about many different types of components. In electronic products, there are tens of thousands of components, but if even one component doesn't arrive, we cannot deliver the product," he complained.

Increased diligence on the implementation of regulations, on China's part, might come in the context of the Israeli occupation forces' daily war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. More than 20,400 people have been killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip, as one of the most recent massacres claimed the lives of dozens of Palestinians, mostly children and women, who were killed and injured overnight on Sunday into Monday morning, targeting numerous homes in al-Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.