On April 23, at the invitation of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I journeyed to Jerusalem to attend the State Memorial Ceremony marking Yom Hashoah. Before making my way to the ceremony, I laid yellow flowers before the memorial wall for international diplomats who have been recognized as "Righteous Among the Nations" at the Foreign Ministry. Their names, engraved in relief on the stone wall and immortalized through time, glowed with a bronzed gleam. It was as if their heroic deeds still echoed in the air, vivid and unforgotten.
I lifted my gaze, and my eyes involuntarily settled on a single name – Ho Feng Shan. From 1938 to 1940, he served as the Chinese Consul General in Vienna. At that time, Europe trembled under the iron heel of the Nazis, and for Jews, every day was a struggle against despair. In the face of rising darkness, Ho extended a hand of courage and compassion, issuing one "visa for life" after another. In less than six months, he helped nearly 2,000 Jews escape certain death. In the year 2000, the State of Israel honored him with the title "Righteous Among the Nations", and his name was forever etched in a memorial stone at the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem.
Another Chinese recipient of this rare honor is Pan Jun-Shun. In 1916, he traveled to the Russian Empire in search of work. During World War II, amid brutal Nazi raids, Pan Jun-Shun, undeterred by danger, resolutely sheltered a Jewish girl named Ludmilla Genrichovna and raised her to adulthood – an episode that became a cherished chapter in history.
The Chinese people have always held a deep sense of friendship toward the Jewish people, and the acts of heroism by Ho Feng Shan and Pan Jun-Shun are by no means isolated cases. During World War II, Chinese cities like Shanghai, Harbin, and Tianjin opened their doors to a large number of Jewish refugees. Shanghai alone took in 25,000 Jewish people – more than the number of those accepted by Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, and New Zealand combined. In early March of this year, during a visit to the National Library of Israel, I had the privilege of seeing several priceless items that bear witness to the long-standing friendship between the Chinese people and the Jewish people. Among these was the visa application form submitted by Ms. Stern, a Jewish woman residing in Berlin in 1936, seeking refuge in Harbin. The Chinese language textbooks used by students in China feature an article titled "There is No News from Auschwitz", and the suffering of the Jewish people has been woven into the collective memory of the Chinese nation. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War, an occasion that stirs our hearts as we reflect on the past. There is no fertile ground for anti-Semitism in China, and the enduring friendship between the Chinese and Jewish peoples is one that we should forever cherish and pass on.
As night fell, the State Memorial Ceremony on Mount Herzl proceeded as planned. At the lighting of the memorial torches, Holocaust survivor and one of this year's torchlighters, Mr. Fartouk stood solemnly and prayed, "May all the hostages come home soon."
The attack on October 7 shocked the world. In the wake of this tragedy, China strongly condemned all acts of violence against civilians and all violations of international humanitarian law, which apparently includes the violent attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians on October 7. At the same time, the world is contemplating why such violence keeps recurring. The two-State solution remains the only effective way to break the cycle of violence between Israel and Palestine.
Maintaining peace and stability is in the best interest of all countries in the region. China sincerely hopes for the safe and early return of the hostages, anticipates harmony between the Jewish and Arab peoples, and looks forward to the realization of the two-State solution. I believe that humanity will ultimately break free from the shackles of anguish. As emphasized by the theme of this year's State Memorial Ceremony, "Out of the Depths: The Anguish of Liberation and Rebirth", we will eventually rise from the depths of darkness and embrace a brighter future.
Xiao Junzheng is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of The People's Republic of China to the State of Israel.
