2013 Them and Us

Koon-chung Chan's "Shengshi"

by Paul Mooney

South China Morning Post

February 2., 2010

part 2

Chan speaks of a new political model emerging in

China, which he first noticed some time around

2008, and which he describes as "an authoritarian

government with popular support".

The Hong Kong writer says the party has won people

over by showing that it is a strong government

that can guarantee stability, as well as one that

can use resources to do big things - such as help

China's economic development leapfrog the rest of

the world's.

He admits that there are many problems, but adds

that, right or wrong, many Chinese don't see

things this way. Chan tells of a conversation with

a retired official who, brimming with confidence,

told him: "A big country like China of course has

a lot of problems. But there are no problems the

party can't handle now."

Chan says it's only been in recent years that

Chinese have begun to speak about the China model

being better than Western ones. He says that with

the financial meltdown in the West, Chinese are

getting more confident in their "model".

"There's a lot of buying in from the Chinese

public on this," says Chan, who adds that many of

the people he's talked with here are very

enthusiastic about the future. "There may be

structural problems and questions about whether or

not China can go on like this," he says. "But

that's not the mood right now. And this mood is

very helpful to the ruling people."

He says the party has co-opted intellectuals and

scholars and that fewer people today have the

temerity to challenge the government, which he

worries about.

"Many of those who were once critical of the

regime are now part of the system," Chan says.

"The party has absorbed the elites by handing out

funding, positions, and employment. Those in

universities are getting government projects so

they are not as vocal as before - they don't want

to be vocal."

He says that this is not corruption but rather

patronage. "Many people depend on money from the

state to build their careers. So the intellectual

centre is mainly employed by the state."

Chan says that while this has been happening for

years the state is now much richer. "They have the

capacity to attract you with funding and

apparently the funding is unlimited. There's no

end to it."

"There are more people buying into this now," he

says. "It's very difficult to find people to make

a challenge."

And he says that those who are willing to take on

the government "are becoming more and more

marginalised".

"It can be very dangerous if there's no critical

voice," he says.

Chan tried to write about this dilemma regarding

public discourse in a lengthy article in 2005, but

says no one paid any attention. He later decided

to use fiction to get his views across to a wider

audience. He says fiction also gave him more

latitude in describing his concerns.

The book has been well-received on the mainland

with a small but influential audience of

intellectuals, businesspeople and even government

officials. The first modest print run of 3,000

copies sold out in about two months; many of these

copies made their way in via a back door. They're

made available on the mainland through the

internet, where they are classified as second hand

to get around government restrictions on

unauthorised books. Some book stores stock copies,

but buyers would need a contact to be able to

obtain one, says a publisher, who says the book is

not being openly sold.

"The book is hot," she says, pointing out that the

harsh sentencing of dissident Liu Xiaobo , the

problems of Google and other recent incidents fit

the trends portrayed in the novel.

"It's very clear that things are getting harsher

and harsher," she says. The limited copies are

being read by six or seven people, she adds.

One magazine publisher apparently snapped up 300

copies of the hard-to-find book to offer as an

enticement to get people to subscribe to her

magazine.

The book has also been reviewed by some leading

Chinese newspapers, magazines and blogs, although

the writers had to creatively skirt any of the

sensitive issues discussed in the book.

A reading club was set up on Douban, a popular

portal, for people to discuss the book. And

earlier this week an electronic version of the

book in simplified characters (the Hong Kong and

Taiwan versions are in standard Chinese

characters) turned up on the internet and word

zipped around the country, spread by Chinese using

Twitter.

Li Jun, a journalist, wrote on her popular blog

that after reading the book she's devised a new

way to view her friends.

"Starting from today, I have no friends and I have

no enemies," she wrote. "I now divide people into

two categories - those who have read The Golden

Age and those who haven't."

The book appeals to people for different reasons.

Reviewers have labelled the book science fiction

or mythology, utopian and anti-utopian. Several

have made comparisons with George Orwell's 1984. A

better description might be 1984 with a sense of

humour.

The most common comment heard is that the book -

despite being fiction - reflects the actual

situation in China today. Popular blogger He

Caitou said that the absurdities in the novel, "on

the contrary, appear extremely realistic".

"It allegorises everyone's common fate and

tortuously describes the fears that lay deep in

our hearts," he continued.

He concluded that the most important thing about

The Golden Age was that it makes one "believe that

the world described in the book is quickly bearing

down on us".

Readers can also recognise the book's characters

in real people, from Xiao, who wants to fight for

the truth, to the party official who makes a

Hobbesian argument for a strong authoritarian

state, to Wei Guo, Xiao's ultra-nationalist

college son, who thinks that working for the

propaganda apparatus is "romantic".

"We're surrounded by Wei Guos," said one

university student who read the book.

The book concludes with the interrogation of He.

Drinking the drugged water for the first time, and

egged on by a new happy feeling, the senior

official pours out his guts to his interrogators.

"Zhongnanhai [the party headquarters in Beijing]

has its own supply of food and beverages," he

says. "What we drink is different from what you

drink."

He justifies the government's failure to step in

to control the chaos, arguing that only a major

crisis could convince the masses to accept rigid

controls by the government, which he says are

responsible for China's success.

Xiao challenges him. "You say China has already

entered a golden period. Then why can't you rule

the country with law?" she asks. "Do you mean to

say China should not have rule of law? After

ruling China for 60 years, you still can't rule

with benevolence?"

She answers the question for him, saying that the

government doesn't really want political reform

and that all the policies are aimed at making

party members rich through corruption.

When she castigates the party for feeding the

people chemicals without their knowledge, He

retorts, with no sense of shame: "Our party does a

lot of things that the people don't know about.

It's always been that way."

In one of his most telling statements, and a

veiled but barbed criticism of people today, He

denies that the drug also made people lose their

memories. "If the Chinese people themselves didn't

want to forget first, we would have never forced

them to forget," he says innocently. "It was the

Chinese people themselves that took the initiative

to take the amnesia medicine."

By morning, He's captives follow through with

their promise to release him if he tells all. The

accusers seem the worse for the long night, while

He is charged with energy, seemingly having proven

that the party's policies are correct and for the

good of the people. In any case, few people

actually care.

It certainly seems that the Communist Party is

blessed, as He points out.

"It's a pity I'm a materialist, otherwise I'd say

this is the intention of heaven," he says

gleefully.

"It's because heaven wants the Communist Party to

continue to rule. God bless my party."