China and the “Mid-Med”: Contemporary Perspectives
An International Conference—Program
08:30 Greetings:
Matan Vilnai, Major General (Ret.), Ambassador to China, President of the Israel-Asia Chamber of Commerce
Ori Sela, Tel Aviv University (Associate Professor and Chair, Department of East Asian Studies)
08:45 Opening Remarks:
Aron Shai, Tel Aviv University (Professor for East Asian Affairs, Pro-Rector)
09:15 - 11:00 Panel 1: Great Power Competition in the New Era
Chair: Enrico Fardella, Peking University (Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Mediterranean Area Studies) and ChinaMed Research Program (Director)
Douglas H. Paal, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Vice President for Studies and Director of the Asia Program)
Strategic Competition between the US and China: The Turning Point
Shi Yinhong, Renmin University of China (Professor and Director of the Center on American Studies)
China-US Rivalry in the Recent Past, Present, and Future
Ivan Timofeev, Russian International Affairs Council (Director of Programs)
Russia and the Future of International Order
11:00 - 11:15 Coffee break
11:15 – 13:15 Panel 2: China and the Middle East
Chair: Paul Rivlin, Tel Aviv University (Associate Professor, The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, MDC)
Brandon Friedman, Tel Aviv University (Assistant Professor and Director of Research at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, MDC)
The China-Saudi Arabia Nexus: Pakistan
Andrew Scobell, RAND Corporation (Senior Political Scientist)
China’s Search for Security in the Middle East
Yoram Evron, University of Haifa (Associate Professor at the Department of Asian Studies)
The Middle East in China-Japan Relations: Non-confrontational Competition
Wu Bingbing, Peking University (Associate Professor and Director of Institute of Arab-Islamic Culture)
China and GCC
13:15 – 14:45 Lunch
14:45 – 16:30 Panel 3-China and the Mediterranean region
Chair: Brandon Friedman, Tel Aviv University
Enrico Fardella, Peking University
A New Intermediate Zone: The BRI, the Med and Italy
Altay Atlı, Koç University and Boğaziçi University (Adjunct Professor)
Relations Between Turkey and China: Expectations of Increasing Economic Interdependence
Ori Sela, Tel Aviv University
Sinophiles and Sinophobes: Facts, Fiction, and History from an Israeli Perspective
Andrea Ghiselli, Fudan University (Researcher) and ChinaMed Research Program (Project Manager)
Instability in the Mediterranean, a Chinese Solution?
16:30 – 16:45 Coffee Break
16:45 – 18:45 Panel 4- China and Belt and Road’s Functional Infrastructure
Chair: Gadi Ariav, Tel Aviv University (Associate Professor, Ret., Management of Tech & Information, Global Business, Business Consulting)
Massimo De Andreis, Studi e Ricerche per il Mezzogiorno (Chief Director)
China’s Growing Role in the Mediterranean
Zeno D'Agostino, Port Authority of Trieste (President)
How to Escape the "Red Ocean": (Re)Thinking Med-China in the Port Sector
Yigal Maor, Israeli Transportation Ministry's Administration of Shipping and Ports (Director General)
To Be or Not to Be? Israel's Integration into the MSR Concept
Onno De Jong, Ecorys, Rotterdam (Advisor)
Changing the Playing Field: the BRI Project and Its Implications for the European Maritime Economy
18:45 – 19:15 Discussion
19:30 Dinner
For more information please contact us at: eas@tauex.tau.ac.il