Shimon Peres in Beijing

When Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with his Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan on March 25, another episode was completed in a relationship between Jews and Chinese that dates back centuries.

Jews have been present in China since at least the 8th century A.D., when some voyagers left Hebrew inscriptions on cave walls in Dandan Uiliq and Dunhuang. A modern Zionist movement – to recreate a Jewish state in Palestine, from which the Jews were expelled by the Romans – became active among Jews and non-Jews in late imperial China. It was spearheaded by N.E.B. Ezra (1887-1936) of Shanghai, who wrote in 1914 that “the future of world Jewry is safe in the hands of our worldwide movement. The time is fast coming when we shall recover our Jewish state and be proud of it once more.”

Zionists subsequently won support from the Chinese Republican government, whose founder Sun Yat-sen wrote Ezra in 1920 that “all lovers of Democracy can not help but support the movement to restore your wonderful and historic nation, which rightfully deserves a honorable palace in the family of nations.” That enthusiasm translated into China’s concrete support in both the League of Nations and founding conference of the United Nations for the re-establishment of a Jewish state.

The early friendly ties between Zionist leaders and the Chinese Republican government ended abruptly in November 1947, when China abstained on the critical United Nations vote to partition the British territory of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states. China’s desire to be accepted among an increasing number of independent Arab and Muslim states lead it to a more and more pro-Arab stance. Walter Eytan, the first director general of the Israeli foreign ministry, felt that Israel had “no special cause for gratitude” to the Chinese Republican government for its diminishing support. On Jan. 9, 1950, Israel therefore recognized the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate, and by then the de-facto, government on the Chinese mainland. On that same date PRC Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai cabled back his “welcome and thanks.”

Despite the fact that Israel was the first Middle Eastern country to recognize the PRC, the PRC did not reciprocate recognition for 42 years. It inherited the same political realities as the Republican government: an increasing number of influential Arab and Muslim states, and a Socialist world which, for the same rationale, became increasingly hostile to Israel.

Between 1950 and 1992, apart from an occasional flurry of arms sales, there were virtually no official contacts, trade, or relations between Israel and China. Relations began to warm between the two countries following the 1989-1990 collapse of the Soviet Union and most other Socialist regimes, and Israeli-Arab negotiations following the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference. According to former Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban, the PRC discovered that “competitive nonalignment was no longer a doctrine or a practice. There was nobody with whom not to align.”

Extensive Sino-Israeli commercial , scientific and military cooperation began in January 1992. It included the establishment of nonstop air service between Beijing and Tel Aviv, a Sino-Israeli Dry Lands Research Center in China’s westernmost province, and the sale to China of Phalcon aerial reconnaissance planes. The latter sale was aborted in August 2000 under intense pressure from the United States, which feared China would use the aircraft against Taiwan. Unlike earlier Sino-Israeli crises, the “Phalcon” flap was precipitated by an external power and was in no way a product of Sino-Israeli animosity. Israel was especially anxious to promote the deal to revive its ailing economy, and China to promote its long-term military development.

Israel has now paid China compensation for the cancellation of the Phantom deal, and Foreign Minster Peres’ visit will help bring bring closure to hard feelings that may have been generated. Almost simultaneously with the cancellation of the Phalcon deal, Israel and China signed an equally valuable deal wherein Israeli-made HK 1 and 2 satellites will broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Peres visit aims to lay the groundwork for a 21st century of Sino-Israeli friendship and cooperation.

Dr. Jonathan Goldstein is a professor of East Asian history at the State University of West Georgia and a summer resident of Glenburn. His book, “China and Israel, 1948-98,” soon will be issued in China.