The Sino-Israeli Marriage

Abstract

The establishment of full diplomatic relations in January 1992 between the People's Republic of China and the State of Israel did not follow the normal pattern in that if did not result in a significant improvement of relations. Their desire for closer and mutually beneficial relations came into conflict with a growing American desire to impede such a relationship. As a result, while the Israeli overtures towards China were not only long, tedious and at times frustrating, the normalisation of relations as well failed to match up to the expectations. Indeed, the Sino-Israeli relations appear to have been better off before they were formalised. This third party intervention by the United States inhibits both Israel and China from reaping the fruits of normalisation and pursuing new avenues of cooperation.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Arens, Moshe , ‘The Enemy of Our Friend’, Ha'aretz (Tel Aviv), (English edition), 21 June 2005.

Bahbah, Bishara , Israel and Latin America: The Military Connection ( New York: St. Martin's Press , 1986).

Brecher, Michael , Israel, the Korean War and China: Images, Decisions and Consequences ( Jerusalem: Institute of Asian and African Studies , 1974).

CRS Report for the Congress, Arab League Boycott of Israel, 19 April 2006 ( Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service , 2006).

CRS Issue Brief for Congress: Israel: Background and Relations with the United States, 18 May 2006 ( Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service , 2006).

Inbar, Efraim , The Israeli-Turkish Strategic Partnership, Mideast Security and Policy Studies no. 53 ( Ramat Gan: BESA Center for Strategic Studies , 2003)

Inbar, Efraim , The Israeli-Turkish Entente ( London: King's College , 2001).

Israeli, Raphael , ‘The People's Republic of China and the PLO: From honeymoon to conjugal routine’, in Augustus Richard Norton and Martin H. Greenberg (Eds.), The International Relations of the Palestine Liberation Organization ( Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press , 1989), pp. 138–65.

Klieman, Aaron S. , Israel's Global Reach: Arms Sales as Diplomacy, ( Washington: Pergamon-Brassey , 1985).

10.

Kumaraswamy, P.R. , ‘ The Star and the Dragon: An Overview of Israeli-PRC Military Relations ’, Issues and Studies (Taipei), Vol. 30, No. 4, April 1994, pp. 36–55 .

11.

Kumaraswamy, P.R. , ‘ Israel, China and the United States: The Patriot Controversy ’, Israel Affairs (London), Vol. 3, No. 2, Winter 1996, pp. 12–33 .

12.

Kumaraswamy, P.R. , Israel's New Arch of Friendship: India, Russia and Turkey ( Dubai: Gulf Research Center, Research Papers , 2005a), pp. 46.

13.

Kumaraswamy, P.R. , ‘ Israel-China Relations and the Phalcon Controversy ’, Middle East Policy (New York), Vol. 12, No. 2, Summer 2005b, pp. 93–103 .

14.

Kumaraswamy, P.R. , ‘ At What Cost Israel-China Ties? ’, Middle East Quarterly, Vol. 13, No. 2, Spring 2006, pp. 37–44 .

15.

Melman, Yossi and Sinai, Ruth , ‘ Israeli-Chinese relations and Their Future Prospect: From Shadow to Sunlight ’, Asian Survey, Vol. 27, No. 4, April 1987, pp. 395–407 .

16.

Report of Audit: Department of State, Defence Trade Control, 2-CI-016, US Department of State, Office of the Inspector General , March 1992.

17.

Report to the Congress of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 2004 [Full text: http://hongkong.usconsulate.gov/uscn/others/2004/061501.pdf]

18.

Shichor, Yitzhak , The Middle East in China's Foreign policy, 1949–1977 ( Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1979)

19.

Shichor, Yitzhak , ‘ Hide-and-Seek: Sino-Israeli Relations in Perspective ,’ Israel Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 2, Winter 1994, pp. 16–35 .

20.

Shichor, Yitzhak , ‘ Mountains Out of Molehills: Arms Transfers in Sino-Middle Eastern Relations ’, MERIA Journal, Vol. 4, No. 2, September 2000, available at: http://meria.biu.ac.il/journal/2000/issue3/jv4n3a6.html

21.

Shichor, Yitzhak , ‘ The US Factor in Israel's Military Relations with China ’, China Brief, Vol. 5, No. 12, 24 May 2005, available at: http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=408&issue_id=3344&article_id=2369792

22.

Sufot, Zev E. , A China Diary: Towards the Establishment of China-Israel Diplomatic Relations ( London: Frank Cass , 1997).

23.

US General Accounting Office, Report to the Congressional Requesters on Defence Industrial Security: Weaknesses in US Security Arrangements with Foreign-owned Defence Contractors, GAO/NSIAD-96-64 ( Washington, DC , 1996).

24.

US National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China, Report of the Select Committee (1999) (Cox Report), available at: http://www.gpo.gov/congress/house/hr105851-html/index.html

25.

Zakheim, Dov S. Flight of Lavi: Inside a US-Israeli Crisis ( Washington, DC: Brassey's , 1996).