ALLEN HERTZ: ON LIVING IN CHINA
Allen Z. Hertz was senior advisor in the Privy Council Office serving Canada’s prime minister and the federal cabinet. He formerly worked in Canada’s Foreign Affairs Department and earlier taught history and law at universities in New York, Montreal, Toronto, and Hong Kong. He studied European history and languages at McGill University (B.A.) and then East European and Ottoman history at Columbia University (M.A., Ph.D.). He also has international law degrees from Cambridge University (LL.B.) and the University of Toronto (LL.M.)
Much is to be learned from living here in China. Among the lessons is how the Chinese look at the question of Jews. The virtue and vice of the Chinese perspective is that they are largely indifferent to the topic of Judaism, Jews, the Jewish People and Israel.The Chinese understandably have their own concerns.
For better or worse, there is no sense in which Judaism, Jews and the Jewish People have occupied any kind of significant or special role in Chinese history and civilization. This is perhaps a refreshing contrast to the sick obsession with Jews that marks the Western World (formerly Christendom) and the Muslim World (still the Dar-ul-Islam).
However, there is a profound lesson that lies in this Chinese indifference. Do not expect China and the Chinese to save the more than 6 million Jews in Israel from early sudden death via conventional and/or nuclear weapons. Back in 1959-1960, Mao’s incompetence led to a famine that cost the lives of perhaps 36 million Chinese! Today, the Chinese know a fair bit about this historical tragedy but are not filled with burning indignation.
Bearing in mind how the Chinese react to the memory of that great famine, you have to understand that, for the Chinese, the annihilation of Israel would likely be just a remarkable and regrettable item on the evening news. By contrast, the Chinese generally now find rather compelling every detail of their own ongoing struggle with Japan. And certainly the Chinese do have real passion for any news about their new aircraft carrier.
The Chinese also richly enjoy the current eclipse of the USA. They have no hesitation opining that “White folk” have been lording it over others for far too long.
Conclusion:
On a trapeze without a safety net — the Jewish People has to look out for itself. Jews have to take special care to protect other Jews, including the more than six million in Israel. No deus ex machina will effect salvation miracles, if Jews themselves do not rise to the occasion.
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