World Notes: Diplomacy

Political representatives of two of the world's oldest cultures met in Beijing last week and established diplomatic relations. "This is a moment we have awaited for a long time," exulted Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy. The accord between the Jewish state and China culminates a 40-year effort by Israel, one of the first noncommunist countries to recognize the People's Republic after its creation in 1949.

A staunch backer of the Palestine Liberation Organization, China finally succumbed to Jerusalem's courtship out of a desire to re-enter the world stage. Beijing wants to dispel the smoke of ostracism that still hangs over it from the 1989 Tiananmen massacre and fill the power vacuum left by the Soviet Union's breakup.

China is getting a ticket to attend this week's round of Middle East talks in Moscow. Israel gains a higher international profile and an embassy from which it will try to increase its trade with China and decrease Chinese arms sales to the Arab world.