Israel Epstein

Israel Epstein (April 20, 1915 – May 26, 2005) was a Polish-born Jewish journalist of socialist leanings who relocated to China in infancy and emerged as a dedicated proponent of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), contributing to its global outreach via reporting, publications, and advisory roles in state media.

Epstein's early career involved covering the Sino-Japanese War for outlets like United Press and Asia Magazine, during which he visited the CCP's Yan'an base in 1944, conducting interviews with Mao Zedong that shaped his pro-communist views and led to books such as The People's War and From Opium War to Liberation, which framed China's communist revolution positively for Western audiences. After the CCP's 1949 victory, he edited the English-language China Reconstructs (later China Pictorial) and worked for Xinhua News Agency, translating works by Mao and Deng Xiaoping while advising on China's international image; he naturalized as a Chinese citizen around 1957 and formally joined the CCP, one of few foreigners to do so.

Israel Epstein was born on April 20, 1915, in Warsaw, then part of Congress Poland under Imperial Russian control. He was born into a Jewish family whose members opposed Tsarist rule.

His father, Lasar (or Lazar) Epstein, was imprisoned by czarist authorities for anti-Tsarist activities and had been active in the Jewish socialist Bund organization. Lasar Epstein later served as the Bund's representative in Tientsin (now Tianjin), China, for about 20 years. Both parents participated in revolutionary movements against the Russian Tsar. No records indicate siblings.

Epstein was born on April 20, 1915, in Warsaw, then part of the Russian Empire, to a Jewish family with socialist leanings. In 1917, amid post-World War I instability and anti-Jewish sentiment in Eastern Europe, his parents relocated the family to China when he was two years old. The move was influenced by his father's work opportunities in the region, as the elder Epstein had been involved in business development for a company extending into Asia following the war's outbreak.