Overview

In the fascinating story of Israel-China relations, unique history and culture intertwine with complex diplomacy and global business ventures-some of which have reached impressive success. China and Israel is a living collage that addresses these issues from a point of view that combines the professional and the personal. This book paints a broad picture of China-Israel relations from an historical and political perspective and from the Jewish and Israeli angle. To tell this story, Shai relies on rare documents, archival materials and interviews with individuals who were active in forming the relationship between these two states. He profiles Morris Cohen who, according to some, served as Sun Yat-sen's personal advisor; gynecologist Dr. Ya'akov Rosenfeld, who rose to the rank of general in the Chinese Red Army and ended his career as a family physician in Tel Aviv; and international business magnate Shaul Eisenberg, otherwise known as ""the king of China,""who executed the first Sino-Israeli military contacts. Shai also covers the attempts of major Israeli companies and business people to enter China, and describes the opportunities and risks involved when China purchases companies that are part of Israel's national infrastructure.

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9781618118943

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Reviews

A small corpus of literature probing the historical relationship between the Chinese and Jewish peoples has accumulated over the years. A very welcome recent addition to this literature is Aron Shai's comprehensive, illuminating and accessible review of the relationship from its origins to the present day. Shai, a professor at Tel Aviv University and an internationally known Sinologist, manages to weave together nimbly three separate strands of inquiry into a single volume. In alternating chapters, he examines the communal, economic and political strands of the relationship, even sewing in to the fabric of the book his own particular experience with the Chinese people. ... This book should indisputably be at the top of the reading list of anyone interested in either the broader Jewish-Chinese relationship or the narrower Israeli-Sino relationship. It is sure to become a core work in these fields. --David Rodman, Israel Affairs --Israel Affairs Shai paints a fascinating picture of Israeli/Jewish-Chinese history and the present relationship between the two peoples. The book is not only descriptive, but also an important piece of academic research, revealing information not widely known until now. ... The book is an excellent read that once again demonstrates that Aron Shai is a true expert in the field. --Shai A. Kivity, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs Shai provides an overview of Chinese-Jewish relations from medieval Kaifeng to the present. In 239 pages of text and a ten-page quatro-lingual bibliography, he surveys the corresponding academic field now known as Sino-Judaica. ... Shai condenses this vast corpus of scholarship as context for what is the strength of this volume: his profiles of Sino-Judaic personalities. These include Sun Yat-sen's English bodyguard Morris Cohen (1887-1970) and Chinese Communist Fourth Army physician Jacob Rosenfeld (1903-1952), originally from Austria. Shai also offers vignettes about lesser-known individuals who are arguably of equal historical significance. Drawing upon hard-to-get interviews and the Yad Tabenkin archive of the kibbutz movement, he profiles leaders of the Israel Communist Party (ICP) and their Chinese initiatives. ... Shai's persistent sleuthing about [Israeli businessman Shaul] Eisenberg and the ICP is matched in Sino-Israeli historiography only by Yitzhak Shichor's startling revelations about Israeli nuclear cooperation with Taiwan. --Jonathan Goldstein, The China Quarterly, 238 --Jonathan Goldstein The China Quarterly

Shai provides an overview of Chinese-Jewish relations from medieval Kaifeng to the present. In 239 pages of text and a ten-page quatro-lingual bibliography, he surveys the corresponding academic field now known as Sino-Judaica. ... Shai condenses this vast corpus of scholarship as context for what is the strength of this volume: his profiles of Sino-Judaic personalities. These include Sun Yat-sen's English bodyguard Morris Cohen (1887-1970) and Chinese Communist Fourth Army physician Jacob Rosenfeld (1903-1952), originally from Austria. Shai also offers vignettes about lesser-known individuals who are arguably of equal historical significance. Drawing upon hard-to-get interviews and the Yad Tabenkin archive of the kibbutz movement, he profiles leaders of the Israel Communist Party (ICP) and their Chinese initiatives. ... Shai's persistent sleuthing about [Israeli businessman Shaul] Eisenberg and the ICP is matched in Sino-Israeli historiography only by Yitzhak Shichor's startling revelations about Israeli nuclear cooperation with Taiwan. --Jonathan Goldstein, The China Quarterly, 238 --Jonathan Goldstein The China Quarterly

Shai provides an overview of Chinese-Jewish relations from medieval Kaifeng to the present. In 239 pages of text and a ten-page quatro-lingual bibliography, he surveys the corresponding academic field now known as Sino-Judaica. ... Shai condenses this vast corpus of scholarship as context for what is the strength of this volume: his profiles of Sino-Judaic personalities. These include Sun Yat-sen's English bodyguard Morris Cohen (1887-1970) and Chinese Communist Fourth Army physician Jacob Rosenfeld (1903-1952), originally from Austria. Shai also offers vignettes about lesser-known individuals who are arguably of equal historical significance. Drawing upon hard-to-get interviews and the Yad Tabenkin archive of the kibbutz movement, he profiles leaders of the Israel Communist Party (ICP) and their Chinese initiatives. ... Shai's persistent sleuthing about [Israeli businessman Shaul] Eisenberg and the ICP is matched in Sino-Israeli historiography only by Yitzhak Shichor's startling revelations about Israeli nuclear cooperation with Taiwan. --Jonathan Goldstein, The China Quarterly, 238 --Jonathan Goldstein The China Quarterly Shai paints a fascinating picture of Israeli/Jewish-Chinese history and the present relationship between the two peoples. The book is not only descriptive, but also an important piece of academic research, revealing information not widely known until now. ... The book is an excellent read that once again demonstrates that Aron Shai is a true expert in the field. --Shai A. Kivity, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs A small corpus of literature probing the historical relationship between the Chinese and Jewish peoples has accumulated over the years. A very welcome recent addition to this literature is Aron Shai's comprehensive, illuminating and accessible review of the relationship from its origins to the present day. Shai, a professor at Tel Aviv University and an internationally known Sinologist, manages to weave together nimbly three separate strands of inquiry into a single volume. In alternating chapters, he examines the communal, economic and political strands of the relationship, even sewing in to the fabric of the book his own particular experience with the Chinese people. ... This book should indisputably be at the top of the reading list of anyone interested in either the broader Jewish-Chinese relationship or the narrower Israeli-Sino relationship. It is sure to become a core work in these fields. --David Rodman, Israel Affairs --Israel Affairs Aron Shai ... has packed a tremendous amount of information in a very readable form into this well-researched book. He realizes that the all-important question of the nature of Sino-Israeli relations in the future can only be contemplated with knowledge of the past, which is why the book looks at relations from the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng to the present. --Liat Collins, The Jerusalem Post In Aron Shai's new book, China and Israel, we can clearly see a road map of how the Sino-Israeli relationship has evolved from the strong influence of Eurocentrism in its early days to an extent that sometimes gives rise to anxiety and worry today. ... It is also noteworthy that Shai describes his own experiences and connections with China as a scholar who has long studied Sino-Israeli relations. As an expert on the history of foreign relations, he can also incisively call attention to both the problems and achievements of the period of bilateral relations. His own experiences reflect the ups and downs of those relations. --Wang Zhen, Center for Jewish Studies in Shanghai and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Israel Studies Review

Author Information

Aron Shai is Shaul N. Eisenberg Professor of East Asian Studies and Pro-Rector of Tel Aviv University. He earned his PhD from St. Antony's College, University of Oxford. His research focuses on imperialism in Asia, China's role in international relations, diplomatic and economic history, and Sino-Israeli relations. He lectured at international conferences and served as guest professor at Oxford, Paris, Toronto, New York and in China. Shai authored and edited numerous books in Hebrew, English, and Chinese, including Origins of War in the East; From the Opium War to Mao Zedong; Britain and China 1941-1947; The Fate of British and French Firms in China 1949-1954; Twentieth Century China; and Zhang Xueliang-The General Who Never Fought. He has also written two historical novels.

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