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."

Full Product Details

Author:   Aron Shai
Publisher:   Academic Studies Press
Imprint:   Academic Studies Press
Weight:   0.333kg
ISBN:  

9781618118943

ISBN 10:   1618118943
Pages:   300
Publication Date:   07 March 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In stock  
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Table of Contents

Preface: My Road to China Structure and Contents Introduction: Jewish Communities in China   The Kaifeng Community   Judaism as a Popular Religion   The Harbin Community   Religious, Cultural, and Social Institutions   Harbin Jews Following the Japanese Occupation   The Baghdadi Sephardic Community in Shanghai   Institutions of the Baghdadi Jewish Community in Shanghai   The Russian Jewish Community in Shanghai   The European Refugee Community in Shanghai   Decline of the Shanghai Communities   The Hong Kong Community   Other Jewish Communities in China Chapter One: 1948 to 1955—The Early Years of Trial and Error   Mutual Recognition and Establishment of Diplomatic Relations   Israel Recognizes the People’s Republic of China   Initial Ties   Burma, Russia, and India Help Initiate Contact   The Israeli Commercial Delegation to China   A Missed Historical Opportunity? Chapter Two: Moshe and Ya’akov—Two Jews in China   Moshe (Morris) Cohen   Jacob Rosenfeld Chapter Three: 1948 to 1956—Behind the Scenes   Members of Leftist Israeli Parties Visit China   Other Israeli Visits to China   The Parliamentary Front in Israel Chapter Four: 1955 to 1978—No Contact   The Israel Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party: The Great Leap Backward   View from Afar: “Going Behind the Wall” Chapter Five: Clandestine Contact—Shaul Eisenberg in China   Global Business   Business in Korea   On the Road to Israel   One Billion Chinese Await   Eisenberg’s Influence on China–Israel Relations   After Eisenberg’s Death Chapter Six: How to Lose Money in China—The Stories of Four Israeli Companies   Israeli Business people Try Their Luck in China   The Case of Sano   Not Worth Peanuts—The Case of Osem   Lessons Learned   A Guide to Losing Money in China: The Next Generation   David Shield   Kardan Israel Ltd. Chapter Seven: 1992 to 2018: Beijing and Jerusalem—The Last Battle? China, Israel, and Hong Kong Patience Pays Off: Gradual Establishment of Diplomatic Relations China–Israel Relations Since 1992 Despite All, a Relationship Chapter Eight: China, Israel, and Other Spheres   China, the Palestinians, and the Middle East   Iran–China–Israel   China’s Relations with North Korea   Relations between Israel and Taiwan (Nationalist China)   China in the International Sphere   The Future of Israel–China Relations Chapter Nine: Me, China, and Everyone Else   The Confucius Institute: Founding, Crises, and Return to Routine   Signs of Conciliation   Disseminating the Chinese Language   More Questions, This Time from Guangzhou Chapter Ten: Review So Far, and What’s Next? Bibliography Archives, Official Sources, and Sources without an Author Hebrew and Chinese sources English sources Books and periodicals (Hebrew) Books and periodicals (English and Chinese) Interviews Index

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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