The Israeli Embassy in Beijing protested the content of a program broadcast by China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday (May 18), which discussed the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling it “blatant anti-Semitism.
The Israeli Embassy in Beijing was shocked by the blatant anti-Semitism expressed by Chinese official media. The embassy tweeted, “We had hoped that the era of conspiracy theories about ‘Jews controlling the world’ was over, but unfortunately, anti-Semitism has once again shown its ugly face.”
The embassy also tweeted, “We are disappointed by this type of information and urge CGTN to take down this insulting video that spreads lies and racism. We believe that anyone who expresses such thoughts should be ashamed of themselves for doing so.”
The episode of CGTN has now reportedly been removed.
According to the Associated Press, in the CGTN program, which aired Tuesday, host Jung Junfeng questioned whether U.S. support for Israel is truly based on shared democratic values. “Some argue that U.S. pro-Israel policy can be traced back to wealthy American Jews and the influence of the Jewish lobby on U.S. foreign policy makers,” he said.
“Jews dominate the financial and Internet industries,” Jung said, “so do they have the powerful lobby some say they have? It’s possible.”
He also reportedly accused the U.S. on the show of using Israel as its “beachhead” in the Middle East and as a proxy for defeating the pan-Arabist movement.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said Wednesday (May 19) that he was not aware of the situation. He added: “China has repeatedly stated its position on the current Palestinian-Israeli situation.”
China has repeatedly said it is “a good and sincere friend, partner and brother of the Palestinian people and a staunch supporter of peace between Israel and Palestine,” and recently criticized the United States for “blocking” a joint Security Council statement calling for an immediate ceasefire between the two sides. U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken later said, “We are not blocking diplomacy; on the contrary, we are engaged in diplomatic efforts almost without interruption.”
China last year compared the closing of borders by several countries to Chinese citizens because of the new crown epidemic to the exclusion of Jewish refugees during World War II, for which it later publicly apologized.
“There is no intention to compare the dark days of the Holocaust with the current situation and the efforts of the Israeli government to protect its citizens.” In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Israel said, “If anyone misinterpreted our message, we are willing to apologize.”
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