TOKYO -- Israel is at the center of an escalating tug of war between the U.S., its longtime ally, and China, an investor it has courted for years.
This week, a company backed by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison Holdings conglomerate lost a bid to build one of the world's largest water desalination plants in Israel. Government officials told local media that the domestic winner had a better pitch. But the decision came less than two weeks after a whirlwind visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who reportedly delivered a warning against Chinese investment.
