BEIJING — Israel has canceled a planned exhibit in China on Albert Einstein after Chinese officials demanded the removal of references to his being Jewish and a supporter of creating a Jewish state, an Israeli spokesman said Tuesday.
The incident adds to diplomatic strains that date back to Israel's decision two years ago to call off a deal to sell Beijing a sophisticated airborne radar system. China has also openly criticized recent Israeli attacks in Palestinian territories.
The Einstein exhibit was to open in Beijing in late September and travel to Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities, according to the Israeli Embassy in Beijing. It consists of 30 posters reproducing photos, letters and documents about the physicist's life and scientific work.
Israeli officials called it off after Chinese officials demanded the removal of material that refers to Einstein's being Jewish and his ties to Israel, said Amir Sagie, an embassy spokesman.
"It was the Chinese Ministry of Culture's demand to omit or delete parts of the exhibition that deal with the Jewish origins and pro-Zionist attitude of Einstein and that he had been invited to be the president of Israel," Sagie said. "These three themes are very important to the biography of Einstein and can't be changed."
Sagie said China's culture ministry didn't give a reason for its request.
Zhang Ling, an official of the Asian and African Department of the ministry's Foreign Cultural Exchange Bureau, said it had no immediate comment.
China has had diplomatic relations with Israel for a decade. Their growing business ties include Israeli weapons sales to Beijing.
But China recently has been focused on building ties with Arab governments, which have been critical of Zionism, the movement that led to the founding of Israel in 1948.
The Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot said China was trying to "de-Judaize Einstein." It said Beijing took the step "so as not to spark Arab anger."
Chinese-Israeli relations plunged in 2000 when Israel, under U.S. pressure, canceled the sale to Beijing of a Phalcon airborne radar system. Washington worried that it might endanger U.S. pilots if there were a conflict over Taiwan.
Israel reportedly agreed in February to pay China $350 million in damages, and its diplomats have been struggling to rebuild relations.
The Einstein exhibit was part of a wide range of Israeli cultural activities planned for China this year, Sagie said. He said five or six similar exhibits on various topics were planned over the next year.
A youth choir from northern Israel is taking part in a music festival in Beijing and a dance troupe from the Israeli city of Gedera performed last weekend in Tianjin, southeast of Beijing.
The Einstein exhibit had been shown in Australia and New Zealand without controversy, Sagie said.
"It's about his scientific legacy, Einstein as a human being, Einstein as a Jew, of course, and Einstein and the state of Israel," he said.
The German-born Einstein was a public supporter of Zionism. He died in 1955.
According to Sagie, the exhibit recounts an invitation by Prime Minister David Ben Gurion in the early 1950s for Einstein to become Israel's president.
"He regrettably declined," the spokesman said.