First Sentence

"As already suggested in the preface to this book, relations and non-relations between the Republic of China (ROC), the founders of the modern State of Israel, and the state itself after may 15, 1948, can be broken down into five distinct phase: (1) the ROC's active support for Zionism from November 2, 1917, through June 8, 1945; (2) her abstentions on the United Nations (UN) votes leading to the creation of the state and its admission into the UN, from June 9,1945, through the signing of the first Israeli-Arab armistice on the isle of Rhodes of February 23, 1949;(3) a transitional period from February 24,1949, Through January 9, 1950, in which the ROC recognized Israel, authorized the establishment of an honorary Israeli consulate in Shanghai, and vote for Israeli UN membership; there after Israeli consulate recognized the ROC's rival, the peoples republic of China (PRC) on January 9,1950; (4) a period of minimal ROC-orPRC-Israeli contact, punctuated by an occasional flurry of Israeli arms sales to"