Meir Shamir, head of land development for the Jewish National Fund in Israel, recently met with a delegation from the People’s Republic of China at an annual tree fair in Austria. Both Shamir and the Chinese delegation were invited to a dinner together by the fair’s organizer. The Chinese, however, after much hesitation and consultation among themselves, decided that they could not attend a dinner with Shamir because “we do not have diplomatic relations with Israel. ” The Chinese did, nevertheless, consent to speak with Shamir, confining their discussion solely to the subject of forestry in the two countries.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.