![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.kerrybolton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/china-israel-600x400.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Dr Kerry Bolton <\/p>\n
The Zionist state\u2019s relationship with China is something that has come to public attention with a new Chinese documentary on Israel, although the relationship between Communist China and Israel is of long and strategic duration.<\/p>\n
Walk into Israel \u2013 the Land of Milk and Honey<\/em>\u00a0has been produced by China\u2019s national TV channels in co-operation with Israel state authorities. The title should be a giveaway as to the nature of the series: one of the sustaining myths of Israel is that the superior Jewish settlers made Palestine flourish where once it was just sand occupied by a pack of rag-heads; never mind that Palestine was, before being blessed by the presence Irgun, Haganah, Palmach and Stern, a land of plenty.<\/p>\n The\u00a0People\u2019s Daily<\/em>\u00a0reports of the event launching the series:<\/p>\n An event to mark the launch of the TV documentary series \u201cWalk into Israel \u2013 The Land of Milk and Honey,\u201d the first comprehensive TV series about the Jewish civilization and the State of Israel produced by CCTV, was held at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on July 29.<\/p>\n \u201cThe TV documentary series \u2018Walk into Israel \u2013 The Land of Milk and Honey\u2019 is the most important TV series ever produced in China about Israel and the Jewish People, and it offers the viewer an historical, comprehensive and systematic introduction to the Jewish civilization and Israel,\u201d said Guy Kivetz, Director of Communications and Public Diplomacy at the Embassy of Israel in Beijing.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough this amazing program, which explores and unveils the wonders of the State of Israel and the contributions of the Jewish Civilization to the world, we are now able to present the real and bountiful Israel to the Chinese public. We are sure that this program will enhance the understanding of Israel in China and will therefore further promote friendly relations between the two peoples,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Amos Nadai, Ambassador of Israel to China, delivered a speech during the launching event.<\/p>\n He said \u201cIsrael and China are two great civilizations known for their contributions to mankind and two modern states that share a rich history and many modern challenges. After watching the TV series, people may have a better understanding of the history and development of the 4000-year-old Jewish civilization as well as the rapid development of the modern State of Israel. This series has the potential to enhance mutual understanding and traditional friendship between Chinese and Jewish nations, promote cooperation between the two peoples and jointly build a better future for all.\u201d<\/p>\n Around 450 people, including CCTV Vice President Gao Feng and foreign diplomats were present at the event. The 12-episode HD TV series is now being broadcasted by the CCTV-2 and will be broadcast by CCTV\u2019s other leading channels in the future.[1]<\/a>[1]<\/p>\n Arutz Sheva<\/em>, reporting on the documentary, sated:<\/p>\n Ties between Israel and China were virtually non-existent prior to the 1980s due to China\u2019s support for the Muslim world and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The two nations developed military ties in the 1980s, and formally established diplomatic ties in the early 1990s.<\/p>\n Trade between the countries has since surpassed $4 billion per year.[2]<\/a>[2]<\/p>\n Long History of Sino-Jewish Relations<\/strong><\/p>\n The\u00a0Arutz Sheva<\/em>\u00a0claim that Sino-Zionist relations are something new is not accurate. There is a long history between Maoist China and Israel, both states emerging at about the same time, and with the same revolutionary Marxist zeal.[3]<\/a>[3] Israel\u2019s Ambassador to China, Amos Nadai, was more accurate when he referred, as quoted above by the\u00a0People\u2019s Daily<\/em>, to the \u201ctraditional friendship between Chinese and Jewish nations.\u201d<\/p>\n Rabbinic tradition claims an ancient association between \u201cJews\u201d and China. Rabbi Jacob S Raisin, writing of the Chinese Jews, stated that \u201cSome medieval commentators state that when Isaiah[4]<\/a>[4] forecasted the restoration of \u2018the land of Sinim\u2019 by the Jews,\u201d he had in mind Hebrews who had crossed the Jordan and who had travelled through the Caucasus, Turkestan and Tibet up to the Yellow River.[5]<\/a>\u00a0[5]<\/p>\n During the 1640s there was a revolt against the Ming Dynasty, a dynasty that protected the Jews. The city of Kai-Fung-Foo fell and its Synagogue was destroyed (indicating the revolt was against Jewish influence). A \u201cJewish Manadarin\u201d named Chao-Yng-Cheng, led an army that retook the city, and he rebuilt the synagogue in 1663. This history appears in engravings on the Synagogue and attests to the great political, commercial and military influence the Jewish community had in China[6]<\/a>[6] (unless the engravings are an \u201canti-Semitic forgery\u201d).<\/p>\n The Anglo-Chinese Opium Wars of 1839 and 1858-60 were attempts to kick out the Sassoon dynasty that controlled the opium trade under the protection of the British Empire. The Manchu emperor attempted to stop the trade but the Opium Wars only ended in defeat and the extension of the trade throughout China.<\/p>\n Soong\u2019s sister, Soong Ch\u2019ing-ling, became prominent in revolutionary politics, and in 1914 she married Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary leader. After Sun\u2019s death (1925) she was elected (1926) to the Kuomintang central executive committee, resigning in 1927 in protest at the expulsion of the Communists. The outbreak (1937) of the Sino-Japanese War reconciled her with the Kuomintang until 1946. From 1949 she served as Vice Chairman of the Government of Communist China.<\/p>\n Another sister, Soong Mei-ling, married Dr Sun\u2019s successor, Chiang Kai-shek in 1927. In 1945 she became a member of the central executive committee of the Kuomintang.[8]<\/a>[8]<\/p>\n When Dr Sun died in 1925, the Sassoon interests sent T V Soong to offer Chiang Kai-shek $3,000,000 cash, Soong\u2019s own sister as a wife (although Chiang already had a wife and family) and the offer of support for the presidency of China in succession to T V Soong\u2019s late brother-in-law.[9]<\/a>[9]<\/p>\n Under Chiang Kai-shek, Jewish refugees from Germany filled prominent posts. Dr Bernhard Weiss, former vice president of the police in Berlin presided over the reorganisation of the Chinese police. The\u00a0Castilian Jewish Encyclopaedia<\/em>\u00a0states: \u201cMany German officers of Jewish origin enlisted in Chiang Kai-shek\u2019s army.\u201d Miriam Karnes founded the Chinese women\u2019s battalion. General Moshe Cohen organised the supply for the army[10]<\/a>[10].<\/p>\n Sino-Zionist Relations<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2002 Israel and China commemorated ten years of diplomatic relations. This is deceptive. The relationship goes back since the early days of the founding of both Israel and Red China. The\u00a0People\u2019s Daily<\/em>\u00a0reported:<\/p>\n Israel and China have jointly issued a postal souvenir on Thursday to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n Israeli Minister of Communication Reuven Rivlin said at the issuing ceremony in Tel Aviv that he was pleased that Israel and China chose a postal and philatelic medium to mark this important event. The minister said: \u201cI believe that the common values that our two ancient nations share, alongside with the cooperation that we have established in so many fields will ensure that our relationship will continue to flourish in the decades to come.\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n Rivlin just came back this week from China after signing an agreement for the sale of two communication satellites for broadcasting and the telecommunications for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing\u2026.<\/p>\n Chinese Ambassador to Israel Pan Zhanlin said he was very pleased to witness the significant development of the profound relations between the two countries. He added that it demonstrates the friendship between the two peoples forged during long-standing contacts and the achievements of cooperation made during the past 10 years.<\/p>\n Peres said in his message, \u201cIsrael is full of appreciation and gratitude for the warm relations and friendship that China has expressed to the Jewish people over the years.\u201d[11]<\/a>[11]<\/p>\n Professor Guang Pan outlined China\u2019s role in the Middle East, of which the following are some of the salient facts in relation to Israel:<\/p>\n During the period 1949-1955, with the exception of Israel, none of the independent Middle Eastern states recognised Red China. In 1950 the Arab League voted to recognise Taiwan rather than the Red China as the legitimate representative of the Chinese people. The Arab states generally also voted against Red China\u2019s admission to the UNO, while Israel supported China. China referred to Middle Eastern leaders as \u201cthe anti-revolutionary rulers\u201d and \u201cfeudal dictators.\u201d \u201cEven after Egypt\u2019s July Revolution of 1952, Beijing continued to refer to \u201cthe anti-revolutionary military dictators\u201d of that country\u2026\u00a0The only exception to this pattern of condemnation was Israel with its socialist leaders. The Chinese press welcomed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948<\/em>\u00a0and accused the British of \u201cagitating\u201d the Arab \u201canti-revolutionary rulers\u201d to launch an anti-Jewish war. During the 1950s and 1960s China sought to influence the Arab states as they became increasingly estranged from the West, due to the pro-Israeli stance of the USA and other states. From the mid-1980s China presented itself as pro-Arab and anti-Israel. However, with the Sino-Soviet break of 1960-61 China\u2019s attitude towards the Soviet allies Egypt and Syria cooled. An anti-Russian attitude was the basis of Chinese relations during the decade of 1966-76. Professor Guang Pan states:<\/p>\n As an active Middle East diplomacy developed on the basis of anti-Soviet goals, Beijing established diplomatic ties with three pro-Western countries between August and November 1971: Turkey, Iran, and Lebanon. It did not, however, restore contact with Israel, for fear of this harming relations with the Arab world. Nonetheless, China and Israel had in the Soviet Union a common opponent and at one time both were fighting Soviet soldiers\u2014Chinese infantry on the common border with Russia, Israeli pilots over the skies of Egypt and Syria.\u00a0In 1971, Zhou even told Senator Henry Jackson (Democrat of Washington) that China supported Israel in its efforts against Soviet expansion in the Middle East.\u00a0<\/em>After 1971, Beijing backed Egypt\u2019s Anwar as-Sadat, Sudan\u2019s Ja\u2018far an-Numayri, and other Arab leaders as they expelled Soviet forces from their countries.\u201d [Emphasis added].<\/p>\n From 1977 onward China sought to establish contact with all Middle Eastern states, culminating in the establishment of formal relations with Israel in 1992.[12]<\/a>[12]<\/p>\n It should be kept in mind that even as China was fostering relations with the Arab states, this anti-Russian strategy was serving Zionist interests in countering the USSR, which had become increasingly antagonistic towards Zionism since Stalin. In particular, Israeli sources were covertly arming China through Shaul Eisenberg, an agent of Mossad,[13]<\/a>[13] and \u201cthe richest man in Israel.\u201d According to Mossad defector Victory Ostrovsky, Eisenberg was \u201cMossad\u2019s tie-in with China.\u201d<\/p>\n Uri Dan, writing in the\u00a0New York Post<\/em>, March 30, 1997, reported that back in 1979 then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin got U.S. approval for authorising Shaul Eisenberg to undertake a $10 billion 10-year deal to modernise the Chinese armed forces thereby \u201cstrengthening the counterbalance to Soviet military might.\u201d Dan describes this deal as \u201cone of the most important in Israeli history\u201d and that \u201cthe Chinese insisted on absolute secrecy.\u201d[14]<\/a>[14]<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s role as a major supplier of arms for China, including sophisticated military equipment originating from the USA, has become a public scandal on several occasions over the past decade.<\/p>\n In 1999 the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>\u00a0reported: \u201cIsrael has long had a close, secretive military relationship with China that arms experts say has resulted in billions of dollars of weapons sales in recent years and raised a variety of concerns in the United States.\u201d[15]<\/a>[15] Note that\u00a0The Times<\/em>\u00a0stated the Sino-Israeli relationship is close, secret, and of long duration.<\/p>\n Elta, a subsidiary of the Israeli Aircraft Industry, designed Phalcon, a sophisticated radar system for the Chinese Air Force.[16]<\/a>[16]<\/p>\n In 1999 Howard Phillips reported:<\/p>\n Israel is China\u2019s second-largest supplier<\/em>. A recent report by Kenneth W. Allen and Eric A. McVadon of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a research organization in Washington, said\u00a0Israel had provided China with a range of weapons\u2013including electronic components for tanks, communications and optical equipment, aircraft and missiles\u2013during a relationship that began at least two decades ago.<\/em>\u00a0Full diplomatic ties were not established until 1997.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth China and Israel appear to gain military and political benefits from the arms and technology transfer relationship<\/em>,\u201d the report said. \u201cBesides seeking money from China, some Israeli officials claim the sale of military technology to China will secure Beijing\u2019s agreement not to sell specific weapons to Israel\u2019s enemies in the Middle East.\u201d[17]<\/a>[17] [Emphasis added].<\/p>\n Note above that the report states that although full diplomatic relations were not established until 1997, a covert relationship involving weapons and technology transfers had been going on since the 1970s.<\/p>\n U.S. protests at Israel\u2019s transfer of advanced military systems to China rings hollow. Those typically lame protests from the world\u2019s leading Israel-fawning state are of the kind typical for public consumption, since the USA was itself engaged at the time in the same relationship with China (as well as having long since approved the secret arms deals with Eisneberg) one report at the time stating of the Clinton Administration:<\/p>\n Unlike his predecessors Democrat or Republican, Mr. Clinton transferred primary legal authority for approving export licenses for advanced U.S. technology from the security-conscious State Department to the politically conscious Commerce Department for the purpose of making such exports easier.<\/p>\n Mr. Clinton is also the first and only president to approve an export waiver authorizing two companies \u2014 Loral Space and Communications and Hughes Electronics \u2014 to transfer technological secrets in the face of a criminal investigation involving their prior alleged export violations. Mr. Clinton approved personally the export of their data relating to satellite- and missile-launch technology to China over the objections of his secretary of state, the Pentagon and others.[18]<\/a>[18]<\/p>\n After a deal between China and Israel on advanced weapons technology became public and resulted in cancellation, Israeli and Chinese diplomats met to overcome difficulties. A Jewish newspaper reported:<\/p>\n JERUSALEM \u2014 Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer met with Chinese Ambassador Pan Zhanlin in Tel Aviv Monday to discuss the cancellation of Israel\u2019s sale of the Phalcon advanced radar system.<\/p>\n Ben-Eliezer appraised relations between the two countries and glossed over the affair. \u201cWe have to see it as\u00a0an incident inside the family<\/em>\u00a0and not as a crisis between two states,\u201d he told Zhanlin.\u00a0Ben-Eliezer promised to work to strengthen the defense ties with Beijing.<\/em><\/p>\n Zhanlin told Ben-Eliezer that he believes\u00a0China knows how to overcome the difficulties and strengthen the ties<\/em>, according to a statement issued by the Defense Ministry.\u00a0China is fully prepared to cooperate with Israel<\/em>.\u201d[19]<\/a>[19] [Emphasis added].<\/p>\n The deal only fell through because of public concern expressed in the USA. Note the fraternal relations expressed between the two; \u201can incident inside the family.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2009 a new Israeli consulate was established in Guangzhou, capital of the flourishing Guangdong province, where much trade between Israel and China is undertaken.[20]<\/a>[20]<\/p>\n Against such a background of Sino-Israeli relations, that a major Chinese documentary on the wonders and glories of Israel is to have such an extensive airing among the Chinese people and over such a duration of time, launched with much ado by leading Israeli and Chinese luminaries, it seems pertinent to ask whether there are major developments afoot in regard to extending Sino-Zionist collaboration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a>\u00a0Liang Jun, \u201cChina-made documentary series spotlights Israel,\u201d\u00a0People\u2019s Daily Online,\u00a0<\/em>July 30, 2010. (http:\/\/english.peopledaily.com.cn\/90001\/90782\/90873\/7087171.html<\/a>)<\/p>\n [2]<\/a>\u00a0Maayana Miskin, \u201cChinese TV Features Israel, Jewish History,\u201d\u00a0Arutz Sheva: IsraelNationlaNews.com,<\/em>\u00a0July 30, 2010. (http:\/\/www.israelnationalnews.com\/News\/News.aspx\/138868<\/a>)<\/p>\n [3]<\/a>\u00a0K R Bolton, \u201cThe Red Face of Israel,\u201d\u00a0Foreign Policy Journal<\/em>, August 2, 2010.\u00a0http:\/\/www.foreignpolicyjournal.com\/2010\/08\/02\/the-red-face-of-israel\/all\/1<\/a><\/p>\n [4]<\/a>\u00a0Isaiah<\/em>\u00a06:12.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a>\u00a0Rabbi Jacob S Raisin,\u00a0Gentile Reactions to Jewish Ideals,\u00a0<\/em>(New York: Philosophical Library, 1953).<\/p>\n [6]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChina,\u201d\u00a0Jewish Encyclopaedia<\/em>, (New York, 1903) Vol. IV. See:\u00a0http:\/\/www.jewishencyclopedia.com\/view.jsp?artid=461&letter=C<\/a><\/p>\n [7]<\/a>\u00a0Soong\u2019s Jewishness is assumed by the fact that Sassoon \u201conly employed Jews,\u201d according to the\u00a0Jewish Encyclopaedia<\/em>, 1944.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a>\u00a0The Columbia Encyclopaedia<\/em>, Sixth Edition, 2002 Columbia University Press.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a>\u00a0E C Knuth,\u00a0The Empire of \u201cThe City<\/em>\u201d, (Milwaukee: Knuth, 1946), reprinted 1982, no further publication details, 45, 46, 82.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a>\u00a0Castilian Jewish Encyclopaedia<\/em>, Mexico, 1948, \u201cChina.\u201d<\/p>\n [11]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIsrael, China Celebrate 10 Years of Diplomatic Ties,\u201d\u00a0People\u2019s Daily,\u00a0<\/em>January 25, 2002.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a>\u00a0Guang Pan, \u201cChina\u2019s Success in the Middle East,\u201d\u00a0Middle East Quarterly<\/em>, Vol. IV, No. 4, December 1997. Guang Pan is professor of political science and history at the Institute of European and Asian Studies in Shanghai, and director of the Chinese Society of Middle East Studies, with a special interest in Jewish, Middle Eastern, and international studies.<\/p>\n [13]<\/a>\u00a0Victor Ostrovsky,\u00a0By Way of Deception: The Making & Unmaking of a Mossad Officer<\/em>, (New York: St Martin\u2019s Press, 1990), `26.<\/p>\n [14]<\/a>\u00a0Michael Collins Piper, \u201cChinese Espionage and Israel,\u201d an open letter to Congressman Christopher Cox, May 6, 1999.\u00a0http:\/\/www.mail-archive.com\/ctrl@listserv.aol.com\/msg12562.html<\/a><\/p>\n [15]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cClinton Administration Presses Israel to Stop Aiding Red China,\u201d\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, November 11, 1999, 1.<\/p>\n [16]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cTaiwan at risk from transfer of US originated technology,\u201d\u00a0Howard Phillips Issues & Strategy Bulletin<\/em>, July 31, 1999. For numerous examples see:\u00a0http:\/\/www.conservativeusa.org\/redchina-military-old.htm<\/a><\/p>\n [17]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cIsraeli-Chinese military Co-operation is Bad for America,\u201d\u00a0Howard Phillips<\/em>, ibid.<\/p>\n [18]<\/a>\u00a0Mark Levin,\u00a0Washington Times<\/em>, May 27, 1999, A1.<\/p>\n [19]<\/a>\u00a0\u201cChina, Israel meet on foiled radar system,\u201d\u00a0Jewishweekly.com<\/em>, January 4, 2002.\u00a0http:\/\/www.jweekly.com\/article\/full\/17020\/china-israel-meet-on-foiled-radar-system-sale\/<\/a><\/p>\n [20]<\/a>\u00a0Malkah Fleisher, \u201cNew Israeli Consulate in China to Boost Partnership, Prosperity,\u201d\u00a0Arutz Sheva<\/em>\u00a0July 6, 2009.\u00a0http:\/\/www.israelnationalnews.com\/News\/News.aspx\/132226<\/a><\/p>\n\n