by RAZAN SHAWAMREH
Away from Beijing’s lofty rhetoric about defending Palestinians, Chinese firms are helping to sustain illegal settlements
“No need, Razan, for you to go to China – come to Huwara, China is here.” Though said jokingly by my friend Ahmad, who asked his full name be withheld for security reasons, these words carried a heavy truth.
Huwara is a small Palestinian village near Nablus, surrounded by some of the most violent and ideologically extreme Zionist settlements in the country, including Yitzhar.
When I asked what he meant, he told me: “Chinese workers are living and working in nearby settlements. I see them regularly in the village streets, shopping at local Palestinian stores.”
That offhand remark a couple of months ago pushed me to investigate further. I spoke with Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and collected their testimonies. Ali, who lives in Ramallah near the Beit El settlement, told me: “I’ve seen dozens of Chinese workers building homes and infrastructure in Beit El.”
Saeed, from Hebron, recalled that “during the Covid-19 pandemic, settlers even quarantined the Chinese workers separately from others”.
Such testimonies reveal an uncomfortable truth: Chinese labour is actively and visibly contributing to the construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
Ironically, this reality stands in direct contradiction to China’s own stated policy; a decade ago, it forbade Chinese construction crews from working in Israeli settlements.
Back to 2015, China signed a bilateral labour agreement with Israel that included a stipulation preventing Chinese workers from being employed in the Occupied West Bank. Notably, this condition was motivated by safety concerns rather than by a principled stance against the illegality or immorality of settlement construction. However, in 2016, these safety concerns appeared to have diminished when China acquired Ahava, a settlement-based company located in Mitzpe Shalem.
One year later, both countries signed another labour agreement to bring in 6000 Chinese construction workers to Israel under the same conditions. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon confirmed the deal was “based on the concern for the safety and security of the workers”. However, Chinese officials responded by stating that “the real issue was not safety, but China’s objection to construction in the settlements.”
Yet my interviews with residents – from Nablus to Ramallah to Hebron – made clear that Chinese workers remain present and involved in settlement expansion. This raises serious questions about the sincerity of China’s supposed opposition to Israeli settlement activity.
‘Pioneers of our days’
Amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Chinese officials have publicly expressed concerns over increased settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated in September last year that Israel must “stop the illegal settlement activities in the West Bank”.
But while Beijing speaks of restraint, Chinese companies act in support of occupation and the settler-colonial project in Palestine.
One of the most striking examples is Adama Agricultural Solutions, a former Israeli company now fully owned by the Chinese state-run firm China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina). Amid the Gaza war, Adama mobilised its workers “to support farmers who have been suffering from a shortage of workers … [including] farmers in the south, in the surrounding residents of the Gaza Envelope and in the northern settlements”, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post.
Middle East Eye for more