The Party: The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers (47 page)

discussion suppressed, 35

impact of, 34–5, 36, 201, 202

Party’s verdict, 239

post-event investigation, 36

splits Party and PLA, 109–10

Tibet, 111

Tieben
see
Jiangsu Tieben Iron & Steel

The Times of Deng Xiaoping
(Yang Jisheng), 253–4

Todai elite, 9

Tombstone
(Yang Jisheng), 229, 230–31, 232

sourcing of, 254–5

trade union, 213–14

Tsai, George, 126–7, 130

Tsang Yok-sing, 21

21st-Century World Herald
, 247

‘Twenty-Seven Perfections’, 77

UBS, 199
Unhappy China
(Wang and Song), 112, 132

United Front Department, 17

United Front department, 235

United Kingsom, elite networks, 9

United States

aircraft carrier patrols seas around Taiwan, 128

elite networks, 9

official appointment, 74

patriotism, 270

pet food scandals, 183, 184–5

universities, 79–80

Unocal, 54

urban citizens, 27

Urumqi, 111, 139

Vatican, and China, 11–12

vertushka
, 13

voting, 11–12

wages, 56

Wal-Mart, 213–14

Wan Yanhai, 3

Wang Jianzhou, 85

Wang Juntao, 23–4

Wang Minggao, 140, 144

on corruption cases, 148

interview with, 71, 72

lack of name card, 70–71

Wang Qishan, ix, xvi

Wang Shengjun, 24

Wang Shenyi, 99

Wang Shi, 207–8

Wang Weizhi, 231, 258–60

Wang Xiaodong, 112

Wang Xiaofang, 95, 96

Wang Xuebing, 158

Wang Yang, 234

Watergate scandal, 164

Wen Jiabao, xvi, 7, 279n

confronted by Chen Liangyu, 163

on democracy, 20

development policies, 178–80

solves Sinopec oil dispute, 63

on Tieben case, 221

titles of, 15–16

visits earthquake zone, 192

wife and son of, 147–8

on Zhang Enzhao’s case, 145

Wen Wei Bao
, 21

Wenzhou, 215, 217–18

‘west mountain meeting’, 22–3

Wolf, Martin, 237, 269

World Trade Organization, 202, 266

Wrath of Heaven
, 144, 168, 169

writers/artists, 96

Wu, Joseph, 123, 124

Wu Bangguo, 7, 279n

Wu Lihong, 90–91

Wu Si, 74

Wu Xiaobo, 209

Xi Jinping, 8, 228, 279n

Xia Chuntao, 247, 251–2

Xia Jianming, 30

Xiamen, corruption cases, 139, 159

Xiang river, 92–3

Xiao Chaoxuan (fictional), 95–6

Xiao Yaqing, 57, 58, 60–61

Xinhua news agency

interview with Zhang Ruimin, 198

on peanut product scandal, 191

secret internal reports, 230, 253

on Tian’s downfall, 188

Xinjiang, 111, 139

Xinjiang Soldier Corps, 114

Xintiandi, Shanghai, 29

Xinyang, 255–8

Xu Guanhua, 140

Xu Haiming, 135–6, 137, 153, 157, 160, 164, 167

Xu Kuangdi, 151, 156

Xu Qinxian, Lieutenant-General, 109–10

Yan Xuetong, 104

on diplomatic policy, 132

on Hu’s policies, 107

on military, 122

on money worship, 132–4

on Taiwan issue, 131–2

Yan’an rectification, 77–8

Yang, Andrew, 120

on Taiwan issue, 122, 126, 129

Yang Bin, 206

Yang Jiechi, 277n

Yang Jisheng, 229–31, 232, 239–40, 252–6, 258, 259–61, 265

Yang Mianmian, 203

Yang Ping, 39, 40

Yang Rong, 206

Yang Shangkun, 239

Yang Yuanqing, 204

Yingkou, 175

You Ji, 121

Youngor, 216

Yu Dehong, 232, 255–7, 260

Yu Jianrong, 179

Yu Jie, 246–7

Yu Minhong, 227

Yu Qiuli, 113

Yuan Weishi, 70, 78–9, 249–50, 252

Yuanhua case, 7–8

Yung Chunchang, 119

Yunnan, 181

Zeng Qinghong, 74, 81–2

Zhang Baoqing, 170, 173

Zhang Chunjiang, 88

Zhang Dahong, 216

Zhang Dejiang, 208–9

Zhang Enzhao, 145–6

Zhang Peili, 147–8

Zhang Quanjing, 75

Zhang Ruimin, 194, 198, 203

Zhang Yimou, 121–2

Zhao Ziyang, 80, 154, 254

encourages political reform, 36

image blackout, 35

rural reform, 200

Zhejiang, 209

Zheng Bijian, 106

Zheng Enchong, 135, 137, 159, 161, 167

Zheng Xiaoyu, 183

Zhengtai Group, 218

Zhou Enlai, 113, 123, 253

Zhou Qiren, 220, 223

Zhou Ruijin, 31, 154

Zhou Tianyong, 69

Zhou Yongkang, 24–5, 81–2, 279n

Zhou Zhengyi, 157–8, 159, 161–2, 167

Zhu Feng, 62–3

Zhu Peikun, 32

Zhu Rongji, 148

careers, 81

financial system reform, 44–6

misread by Western leaders, 43

state enterprise reform, 44

visits Huawei, 204

Journalists rely on the charity, goodwill and democratic impulse of people the world over. This is particularly the case in China. But it is also a fact of life in China that individuals who discuss the inner workings of the political system can get into serious trouble. Even discussing innocuous issues with the foreign press can set back careers. So while there are many people I would like to thank, they might not thank me for doing so.

The Party’s often pathological secrecy explains why I have omitted from the acknowledgements that follow the scores of Chinese who helped me over many years in China, including when gathering information for this book. Many people quoted directly in the manuscript granted on-the-record interviews, either in the eight years from 2000, when I was working in China for the
Financial Times
, or during the twelve months from May 2008, when I researched and wrote the book. Some material was gathered when I was in Hong Kong and China in the mid-nineties, working for
The Australian
newspaper. Just as many people are quoted anonymously. This is not ideal but, equally, it is unavoidable.

Many people have helped me over the years in China, not necessarily in the process of doing this book, but either through their writings, conversation, research or simply by putting me in my place. A number I know only through email. I would like to thank Jasper Becker, Nicholas Bequelin, Robin Bordie, the late Jim Brock, Andrew Browne, Chris Buckley, Nicolas Chapuis, Ching Cheong, Clinton Dines, Ding Xueliang, Erica Downs, Michael Dunne, Graham Fletcher, John Garnaut, Stephen Green, Ha Jiming, Michael Han, Sebastian Heilmann, Bert Hofman, Rupert Hoogewerf, Trevor Houser, Fraser Howie, Nico Howson, Szu-chien Hsu, Yasheng Huang, Bruce Jacobs, Joseph Kahn, David Kelly, Nicolas Lardy, Yu Maochun, Alice Miller, Luke Minford, Barry Naughton, Mark O’Neill, Gordon Orr, Lynn Pan, Andy Rothman, Flora Sapio, Bob Shi, Victor Shih, Robert Thomson, Joerg Wuttke and Wu Xiaobo. Richard Baum’s ChinaPol was a constantly valuable resource.

A number of people kindly agreed to read some sections and provided valuable feedback. Particular thanks to Carl Walter, David Shambaugh, Bruce Dickson, John Fitzgerald, Arthur Kroeber, Anne-Marie Brady and Zhou Xun. John Burns was a valuable guide for the organization department. Duncan Clarke, Don Clarke, David Lague, Alex McGregor, Peter Hartcher and Melinda Liu were also helpful.

Xiao Jin and the team at the Universities Service Centre for China Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong were helpful to a fault, as they seem to have been over many years for scores of grateful researchers.

A special thanks to my excellent colleagues at the
Financial Times
in China over the years, James Kynge, Mure Dickie, Geoff Dyer, Jamil Anderlini and Andrew Yeh, and to Kathrin Hille for her suggestions on Taiwan. In Hong Kong and London, John Ridding, Lionel Barber, Dan Bogler and Victor Mallett supported my year off and, prior to that, my reporting in China generally.

Like most foreigners in China, I have been hand-held by terrific, intrepid locals. Samuel Shen, Sun Yu (who lasted the longest) and Wang Bing all put up with me for lengthy periods. Li Bibo provided invaluable research support and insight for the book itself. On top of digging up lots of nuggets, most important of all, he understood the topic at hand.

My agents, Felicity Bryan in the UK, and Gail Ross and Howard Yoon in Washington, grasped the idea immediately and were helpful in moulding the proposal to put it in front of publishers. I am thankful to Tim Duggan at HarperCollins in the US and Will Goodlad at Penguin for then taking the project forward.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing may not like this book, if they notice it at all. I tend to think the Chinese government doesn’t overly care about what is published outside the country, unless it focuses on the regime’s neuralgic points, notably Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan and the Falun Gong, the outlawed religious group. In any case, as the host body for foreign journalists, the ministry has been, for the most part, polite, professional and helpful when possible, and I would like to register my appreciation for that.

None of this would have been possible without the love and support of my wife, Kath Cummins, who gave up the confines of Canberra to jump into the sea in China in 2000. By the time we left China in 2009, she calculated she had spent a quarter of her life in the country. I am in her debt probably more than she knows. Our two lovely children, Angus and Cate, were born in Shanghai and Beijing respectively. Naturally, I think they were lucky to be brought up in China, and not just because they have flawless tones when speaking Chinese, but also because they have developed exemplary eating habits along the way (‘Mummy, more tofu!’). China is easily the most exciting, interesting country in the world, and I hope the experience stays with them for the rest of their lives, as it will with me.

Beijing, August 2009