China and Israel

“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

“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

“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