Illustration: Chen Xia/Global Times

After an Israel-based newspaper revealed that a consortium of Israeli and Chinese companies had sued the local government for denying their bid for the giant Tel Aviv light rail project under "illegal US pressure," multiple sources confirmed the news to the Global Times on Monday. 

The Tel Aviv light rail project is a planned mass transit system for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in central Israel, consisting of three lines - Red, Purple and Green. In January, the local government announced that it has granted tenders of the Purple and Green lines to other bidders, while the Israeli and Chinese consortium's bid was rejected even though "they offered the lowest prices," the Jerusalem Post reported.

The January announcement was "a major win for Washington over Beijing in a multi-year battle over influence regarding Israeli infrastructure," the report said, adding that "both the Biden and Trump administrations have vehemently pressured Jerusalem to deny bids by Chinese companies to build critical infrastructure projects, especially in communications and technological areas." 

The Israeli-Chinese consortium, in fact, won the tender for the first Red line under the project, which completed construction in February 2020 and is expected to be put into operation later in 2022. In addition to the better bid, the high efficiency and quality of Chinese firms' infrastructure construction are not news among the international community.

However, it is not the first time for Chinese companies' legitimate operation in Israel being undercut by the US, which has become increasingly hostile against China's cooperation with others across the world. One other example is the new port in the northern Israeli coastal city of Haifa, which was constructed primarily by a Chinese company and has encountered repeated threats from Washington.

The truth is that the new Haifa port coming into operation in last September has opened a new gateway for Israel to the world, facilitating it to become a regional trade hub. Like many other cooperative projects launched by China and Israel, the port is in line with the essential interests of both sides.

For years, China and Israel have enjoyed fruitful cooperation across a wide range of areas such as infrastructure, science and technology, agriculture and health care. Many Israeli innovative enterprises have settled in China and the two countries have conducted a number of large joint projects, including the China-Israel Changzhou Innovation Park, which has attracted 155 enterprises and promoted 40 scientific and technological cooperation projects.

Yet, hurdles and risks for bilateral cooperation are rising, as the US tries its best to hinder such mutually beneficial projects with Chinese involvement, like it has been doing in other countries and regions. Holding its hegemonic mindset, Washington has been cajoling and pressuring others to exclude participation of Chinese companies in almost every field, especially in those areas that the US has lost its competitive advantages to China, such as 5G technologies and infrastructure construction.

Driving wedges between China and other countries seems to have become Washington's one core mission. But behind the US' rhetoric and pressure, there is only one goal of serving its own selfish interests at the expense of others, including its own allies. Against such a backdrop, more similar meddling and pressure targeting Chinese companies' projects may be seen in the future in Israel. 

But for the sake of shared interests, it is hoped that the Israeli side would keep a rational and stable approach and resist the US' illegal meddling into projects, so as to avoid hurting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and undermining bilateral win-win cooperation.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Israel. Despite the US' meddling, China-Israel bilateral cooperation remains promising and should be resolutely safeguarded. 

The author is an editor with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn