Review: The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China

The New Emperors: Power and the Princelings in China by Kerry Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Warning: The following review contains some harshly worded criticisms aimed towards the chinese communist Party, and to an extent the current state of chinese society. While I stand by these words, it is also understandable that there might be those who feel offended by the sheer vitriol in these words. Acknowledged a certain amount of personal bias, I nonetheless present to you my thoughts, unfiltered. Read at your own discretion.

One of the best combinations in this world is PB&J on a piece of bread. One of the worst combinations, apparently, is an entitled, spoiled, rich kid of a ccp official, driving an expensive car bought with corrupt money. Which often ends up getting crashed in a drunken fit, killing some innocent unfortunate soul just minding their own business.

I suppose the second part could be said about any entitled, spoiled, drunk rich brat, crashing their daddy's expensive Ferrari or Lamborghini. In India for example, just this year there were two such instances in the same month.

It's almost become a time honored coming of age ritual worldwide. In India we have ‘Shehzaada/ Chote Maaliks’, In Korea they have ‘Chaebols’, and apparently the chinese have the princelings (Tàizǐdǎng). Only, in china, there is literally no consequence for their actions. Unless of course, one of their daddy’s political rivals wants to bring about his downfall.

I’m saying this while living in India, where politics and corruption are bosom buddies, so much so, a politician not screwing over his constituents is something of a miracle. But even here, there are systems in place to identify and prosecute such miscreants. It’s a whole separate matter that they’re abused judiciously.

But in china, there is no one to watch the watchmen. And the public unrest and critique which arises following such cases, are short lived in a police state where people are only allowed to say and think what the party has approved of. Bar of course the exception mentioned above.

I’ll be honest, after around page 90 or so, I skimmed a lot of the content. Partly, because it’s so dry and academic; not something I would recommend for an afternoon read. Partly, because the format is repeated regularly. I.e. Here’s the Party leader #13, who is in charge of so-&-so, here’s how many billions he has embezzled to make his family and cronies rich, here’s what happened to him. Which is either they were purged ruthlessly or became one of the power players in the ccp politburo. Or, you know, the current President.

Which is not to say that the book is uninteresting. It is jam packed with information about the key players in the ccp regime. The movers and shakers who decide the fate of 1.4 billion people. (At least at the time. The entity which poses as the chinese government is such a cutthroat game of thrones gladiatorial cesspool, that the people in power wax and wane depending on where the wind is blowing).

A lot of the biographies of these individuals end with either then being brought to ruination, fleeing the nation, or dying. Which is not surprising, considering how the current president xi jin ping has made one of the cornerstones of his administration, a nationwide anti-corruption campaign. Which, on the surface, is intended to root out corrupt officials embezzling the nation’s resources. But underneath, is a perfect way for president xi to bring down his opposition and political rivals.

To what end one might ask? Well, considering how the president has taken great pains to abolish the 10-year term limits of the general secretary, and established an ideological doctrine called the Xi Jinping thought, he might be on his way to revive the Mao-style cult of personality. You know, the one which gave us unforgettable hits like The great leap forward & everyone’s favoriteThe cultural revolution. Seeing as how the good emperor xi has been quite active in oppressing the people asking for reform in Hong Kong & Tibet, as well as oppressing close to a million ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang, he’s definitely following in the ‘great leader’s’ footsteps.

Another point of clarification. I picked up this book, mistaking it to be one regaling the readers with the unsightly exploits of the newest generation of entitled princelings, who get into trouble and use their daddy’s name to get out of trouble.

Instead, we mostly focus on the OG princelings, the ones who got power in the 80s after the dust settled on Mao’s cultural revolution. Which level the party and the nation in a precarious situation. That particular number was orchestrated by Mao, who at that point had devolved fully into a psychotic megalomaniac, to wait for it, wipe out his political rivals and anyone who might challenge his rule. The more you read, the more you realize that chinese history under the ccp, is the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing, over and over, through the ages, expecting a different outcome.

You know, I consider it to be one of the worst travesties of history, that Mao managed to achieve something that Hitler and Stalin never could; to not be reviled for his atrocious, inhumane actions. Despite numerically being the dictator who caused the most deaths, beating even his ‘peers’ and Genghis Khan. Hitler has become a name so reviled no one names their children that. Stalin comes close second (despite several communist in my home state thinking it to be a swell name for their children).

But Mao is revered as the great leader and continues to indoctrinate the minds of millions of chinese youths. Truly repulsive.

End of Rant.

The multigenerational rule by this authoritarian regime, as well as the countless atrocities that it has wrought, has resulted in a society that has by and large become morally bankrupt and indifferent to basic human suffering.

One where, when tragedy strikes, the so-called authorities are more concerned with covering up the news, to hide its true extent, rather than assist the victims and their families.

One where human life is worth less than rubble, to be written off if it doesn’t besmirch the country’s hollow honor.

One where vile human trait such as greed and hunger for power are promoted, while decent values such as empathy and kindness are ruthlessly suppressed and vilified. As evidenced by the slew of social reformers, activists and advocates for democracy who’re incarcerated or had to flee due to persecution.

It’s a fascinating read, but also quite revulsive.

Other than that, there is not much to say about the book. While somewhat outdated, it does provide a solid base for one to get started with the convoluted world of eternal power struggle and internal factionalism. Take a gander if you don’t mind the esoteric prose.


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