Sino-Zionist Relations

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 People’s Daily reported:

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.

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: “I 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.”….

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….

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.

Peres said in his message, “Israel is full of appreciation and gratitude for the warm relations and friendship that China has expressed to the Jewish people over the years.”[11]

Prof. Guang Pan outlined China’s role in the Middle East, of which the following are some of the salient facts in relation to Israel:

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 PRC as the legitimate representative of the Chinese people. The Arab states generally also voted against Red China’s admission to the UNO, while Israel supported China. China referred to Middle Eastern leaders as “the anti-revolutionary rulers” and “feudal dictators.” “Even after Egypt’s July Revolution of 1952, Beijing continued to refer to “the anti-revolutionary military dictators” of that country… The 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 and accused the British of “agitating” the Arab “anti-revolutionary rulers” to launch an anti-Jewish war. During the 1950s and 60s 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’s 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. Prof. Guang Pan states:

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—Chinese infantry on the common border with Russia, Israeli pilots over the skies of Egypt and Syria. In 1971, Zhou even told Senator Henry Jackson (Democrat of Washington) that China supported Israel in its efforts against Soviet expansion in the Middle East. After 1971, Beijing backed Egypt’s Anwar as-Sadat, Sudan’s Ja‘far an-Numayri, and other Arab leaders as they expelled Soviet forces from their countries.” [Emphasis added].

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]

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] and “the richest man in Israel.” According to Mossad defector Victory Ostrovsky, Eisenberg was “Mossad’s tie-in with China.”

Uri Dan, writing in the New York Post, March 30, 1997, reported that back in 1979 then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin got U.S. approval for authorizing Shaul Eisenberg to undertake a $10 billion 10-year deal to modernize the Chinese armed forces thereby “strengthening the counterbalance to Soviet military might.” Dan describes this deal as “one of the most important in Israeli history” and that “the Chinese insisted on absolute secrecy.”[14]

Israel’s 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.

In 1999 the New York Times reported: “Israel 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.”[15]

Note that The Times stated the Sino-Israeli relationship is close, secret, and of long duration.

Elta, a subsidiary of the Israeli Aircraft Industry, designed Phalcon, a sophisticated radar system for the Chinese Air Force.[16]

In 1999 Howard Phillips reported:

Israel is China’s second-largest supplier. A recent report by Kenneth W. Allen and Eric A. McVadon of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a research organization in Washington, said Israel had provided China with a range of weapons–including electronic components for tanks, communications and optical equipment, aircraft and missiles–during a relationship that began at least two decades ago. Full diplomatic ties were not established until 1997.

Both China and Israel appear to gain military and political benefits from the arms and technology transfer relationship,” the report said. “Besides seeking money from China, some Israeli officials claim the sale of military technology to China will secure Beijing’s agreement not to sell specific weapons to Israel’s enemies in the Middle East.”[17] [Emphasis added].

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.